Ried loses 0:2 against Salzburg

Red Bull Salzburg extended their lead in the Bundesliga after the European Cup out on Thursday. At the end of the 19th round in Wals-Siezenheim on Sunday evening, the defending champion beat bottom team SV Ried 2-0 (1-0) and is now nine points ahead of Sturm Graz three games before the end of the regular season. The first pursuer had already lost 1:2 against Austria Klagenfurt on Saturday.

Nicolas Capaldo (19th) put the favorites on the road to victory early on, Sekou Koita (88th) made the final point. In between, goals from Noah Okafor (35th) and Benjamin Sesko (81st) were rightly denied by referee Alexander Harkam according to the TV images. Coach Matthias Jaissle’s squad celebrated their sixth league win in a row, and the unbeaten run was extended to 17 games. At home there was no defeat in the last 36 games, on Sunday victory number 30 looked out.

After the bitter 2-0 defeat in the second leg of the Europa League at AS Roma, Jaissle decided against a major rotation and only made two changes to the starting XI. Strahinja Pavlovic, who was suspended during the week, played as usual in central defence, while 18-year-old Israeli Oscar Gloukh was allowed to start in midfield for the second time in a row in the league. Bernardo and Maurits Kjaergaard had to go to the bench.

The hosts were keen to show a positive reaction after the end of the European season and found several chances early on in a short space of time. A Seiwald shot was deflected into the corner by David Ungar (6′). In addition, Jonas Wendlinger parried a Gloukh shot from the penalty area (7th) as well as a Pavlovic shot with his shoulder after a Seiwald corner ball (8th). The Rieder almost turned the game upside down out of nowhere. After a counterattack, however, Christoph Lang did not finish first and then found no takers with his pass into the middle (12th).

It was the only time that the Innviertler came dangerously in front of the Salzburg gate. The guests sold themselves quite well on the defensive, but could not prevent the 0:1. The ball went really well and after a strong combination via Oumar Solet, Gloukh and Okafor, Capaldo took it down with his chest in the penalty area and completed it.

In the 35th minute, Okafor scored an Adamu cross from six yards out. The goal was disallowed by referee Alexander Harkam after an on-field review as Nicolas Seiwald jumped the ball before his hole pass to Adamu. Immediately after the restart, Okafor should have closed the sack for good, but failed to do so (52′). As a result, the courageously fighting Rieder stayed in the game, Philipp Köhn had to turn a long-range shot over the crossbar (60th).

On the other hand, “Joker” Koita was unlucky with his first good move with a left-footed shot on the post (77′). Four minutes later, the “Bulls” were once again celebrating the 2-0 win, but Sesko’s individual performance, including a flick into the corner, was not reflected in the result. Harkam went back to the touchline and saw that Sesko had committed a foul after winning the ball in a duel with Michael Martin on the halfway line.

The second goal was scored in the finish with slightly below zero. Lucas Gourna Douath extended a Kjaergaard cross straight into the middle, where Koita happily dusted off something from four meters. Rieder, without a win in seven games, are tied on points behind Hartberg at the end of the table.