Disappointing end to season with home defeat | OneFootball

1-3 loss to TSV Hartberg

In the final match of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga season, we suffered a 1-3 defeat against TSV Hartberg at the Red Bull Arena. Despite Kerim Alajbegovic's goal, our late offensive push didn't pay off, and a late counter-attack sealed the result as we finish the season in third place.

Match summary

We wanted to end the season on a high note in front of our home crowd at the Red Bull Arena. Hartberg had nothing left to gain or lose in terms of league position and therefore approached the game cautiously. The visitors sat deep, readily ceded possession to us, and waited for their opportunities. With over 74 percent possession in the opening phase, we certainly tried to force the tempo, but initially found few gaps in the visitors' compact defensive block.

After a quarter of an hour, our efforts stepped up a notch. In the 17th minute, Stevie Lainer, after a fine pass from Sota Kitano, was denied by the Hartberg goalkeeper on the edge of the six-yard box, and shortly afterwards, Vertessen had another good opportunity. However, the goal fell at the other end of the field. In the 22nd minute, we lost the ball at the center circle, Wilfinger carried it into our half, passed it into the centre, and Hoffmann slotted it home completely unmarked. The goal hit us hard, as we lost momentum, and the visitors now played with more freedom. The grim picture was completed just before the half-time whistle. We failed to clear a corner in the 42nd minute, the Hartberg players deflected the ball off each other, and after a series of deflections, it found its way into the net for 0-2.

Even after the break, our Red Bulls couldn't find a way through Schmid's side's solid defence. A brilliant pass from Enrique Aguilar to Karim Konate in the 65th minute remained the most notable moment, but the Ivorian squandered the opportunity. Otherwise, crosses from the flanks, which failed to find a teammate, dominated the play. We simply didn't generate enough of the necessary attacking threat to break down Hartberg's defensive wall.

We gained hope in the 83rd minute when Alajbegovic took things by the scruff of the neck. The Bosnian cut inside from the right wing and finished superbly to pull one back. This gave them renewed energy for a late attacking push, and Hartberg, as expected, sat back and defended. However, what followed was utter disappointment: Kitano lost possession in his own half, the visitors executed the counter-attack flawlessly, and sealed a bitter finish to this final home game with a 3-1 win (90').

At least we held onto third place in the final standings, as both Viennese clubs also suffered defeats at the same time. A meagre reward for today's efforts, but at least a small ray of hope at the end of the season.

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Daniel Beichler

Alex Schlager

Match summary

Line-ups & substitutions

FC Red Bull Salzburg: Schlager © – Lainer, Chase, Drexler, Krätzig (71. Terzic) – Diabate – Kitano, Alajbegovic – Vertessen (46. Baidoo), Onisiwo (46. Konate), Redzic (61. Aguilar) TSV Hartberg: Hülsmann – Heil ©, Komposch (72. Schopp), Spendlhofer, Coulibaly (75. Gölles), Pazourek (72. Kovacevic) – Wilfinger, Markus, Kainz – Fridrikas (87. Ojukwu), Hoffmann (72. Fillafer)

Referee: Stefan Ebner Goals: Alajbegovic (83.) - Hoffmann (22.), Wilfinger (42.), Kovacevic (90.) Yellow cards: Vertessen (36./Foul) - Spendlhofer (78./Foul) Attendance: 7,653

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