Salzburg finds its groove every day
FC Red Bull Salzburg celebrated their third win in a row against Austria Klagenfurt. However, the series champion did not know how to completely convince against the Carinthians either.
Salzburg could celebrate the next victory against Klagenfurt.
FC Red Bull Salzburg / Klaus Huber
Red Bull Salzburg is not back at the top of the table, but the Austrian champion of the past nine years is taking it for granted again. On Saturday was Austria Klagenfurt in Wals-Siezenheim, thanks to a focused performance in the second half, sent them home 2-0 – the defending champions celebrated their fourth win of the season. A highlight of the season away from the pitch awaits on Thursday with the Champions League draw.
Salzburg had an unexpectedly difficult time in front of their home crowd in the first half. Many passes didn’t arrive, and there was a lack of momentum in the opposing half. “The last pass was missing in the first half for us to finish,” said Noah Okafor, who went on to score the 2-0. “But you also have to say clearly that Klagenfurt did very well in the first half – very aggressive, very compact,” said head coach Matthias Jaissle.
Klagenfurt is denied a penalty
It got better with the addition of regular captain Andreas Ulmer, who put a lot of pressure on the left after the break. Gradually, the back team of the guests crumbled apart, the champion found more space. Austria also had a conceivable penalty situation immediately before Fernando made it 0-1 in the 51st minute, which the referee did not recognize as such: Maximilian Wöber blocked a ball played by Andy Irving on the edge of the penalty area with his hand .
Coach Peter Pacult enraged the decision against his team. “There will now be a discussion again. One referee will say it was natural, the other will say it was unnatural. But at that moment he blocks the shot and, above all, his hand is relatively far away,” said the Viennese. “Lucky for Salzburg that he made a different decision.”
Jaissle obligated his colleagues to. “In fact, we can’t complain if the referee decides otherwise. It was a tricky situation that we gave preference to. But if you look at the entire course of the game, it was just a very confident and also a deserved win for us,” emphasized the German.
Referee Josef Spurny apologized for the wrong decision after the final whistle. “After studying the video, it’s a punishable handball. For me on the field, my hand was on, but it widens the body in an unnatural way,” said the referee. Why didn’t the video assistants intervene? “For them, the images weren’t clear enough for a handball. The images in the VAR room are a bit smaller than what we see here,” added Spurny.
Jaissle identifies room for improvement
For the Carinthians it was the third defeat in the new season, so they are in the middle of the table. “I don’t think we were inferior anywhere here. We simply should have played counterattacks a bit better,” said striker Jonas Arweiler, having missed certain chances. “Maybe something could have been done, even if Salzburg actually had a lot of chances. But when you play here, you have to seize every chance.”
Jaissle counts Salzburg still have a lot of work to do before the highlight games in the Champions League can start. “Now you just have to work even more on the details so that we can do things better that weren’t ideal today,” he said. The team will find out about their opponents in this year’s group stage on Thursday, when the draw will take place in Istanbul. “I don’t care who we get. I think we have to focus on ourselves and try to get the game back on the pitch like last season. Then we can beat any opponent in Europe,” Okafor said in a Sky interview with self-confidence.