Image: KRUGFOTO (APA)
After the botched start to the year with the end of the cup quarterfinals against Sturm Graz, Red Bull Salzburg did not show any weakness at the start of spring in the Bundesliga. The series champion defeated Austria Lustenau 4-0 (0-0) at home and is still six points ahead of Sturm. Fernando put the Bulls on the road to victory with a brace on his return to the league after a long injury break (49′, 52′). Nicolas Seiwald (76th) and Nicolas Capaldo (91st) also scored.
Salzburg also succeeded in the dress rehearsal for the home game of the second round of the Europa League on Thursday (6.45 p.m.) against AS Roma. In the Bundesliga, they have been unbeaten in their own stadium for 35 games since December 2020. After four unbeaten league games at the end of the autumn, the Lustenau team started the spring with a bitter defeat. The eighth-placed climber’s three-point gap to the championship group ranks will increase on Sunday.
Salzburg coach Matthias Jaissle made two changes compared to the cup-out in the penalty shoot-out against Sturm. Veteran Andreas Ulmer replaced Bernardo at left-back, while Fernando was in the starting XI for the first time since suffering a thigh injury in mid-September. Sekou Koita had to go to the substitutes’ bench, top-class players like Benjamin Sesko and Jerome Onguene couldn’t even find a place there.
The new Trabzonspor striker Emrehan Gedikli started for Lustenau in the first competitive game after the departure of top scorer Bryan Teixeira to Sturm Graz. The Vorarlbergers only had an offensive scene when the score was 0: 4 through Stefano Surdanovic. The underdog defended against the ball in his 5-3-2 formation but skillfully before the break.
Salzburg dictated the game in front of 7,507 spectators in Wals-Siezenheim, but rarely became compelling in the first half. Fernando missed an Ulmer cross from a good position (20′). Lucas Gourna-Douath knocked at Lustenau keeper Domenik Schierl with a header (25′), Noah Okafor hit the side netting after a one-on-one effort (37′).
Shortly after changing sides, Fernando struck twice. With his first goal, the Brazilian slammed the artificial leather under the bar after a short corner and a remarkable combination of Okafor and Maurits Kjaergaard. Less than four minutes later, Amar Dedic sent him on his way, Fernando deliberately shot into the far post after a hook. It wasn’t just the 23-year-old’s first brace for Salzburg, he’s now holding six league goals despite his five-month absence.
After Fernando’s well-deserved final applause (63′), top talent Oscar Gloukh made his competitive debut for Salzburg (73′). The 18-year-old Israeli switched from Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Bulls in January for a reported seven million euros. Substitute captain Seiwald made it 3-0 with a shot from just outside the penalty area. The 21-year-old celebrated his first Bundesliga goal. His substitute ÖFB teammate Junior Adamu had previously failed alone in front of Schierl.
It wasn’t quite a shooting match like the 6-0 win in Lustenau in August. Substitute Capaldo, who had missed the decisive try against Sturm in the shoot-out, was also allowed to put his name on the list of marksmen after a mistake by Lustenau’s Jean Hugonet. The Bulls have been unbeaten in 15 Bundesliga games since the end of July. In the last seven league games, there was only a 0-0 defeat in October against Sturm.
Source: Nachrichten
