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“It was not the best performance, we can and must play better,” admits Salzburg coach Jesse Marsch after the start of the new Bundesliga season. In view of the quality of the opponent, the coach of “Bullen” is still satisfied with the 3-1 victory at Wolfsberger AC.
Red Bull Salzburg has taken the first step on its way to the eighth consecutive championship title. With a 3-1 win at Wolfsberger AC, the defending double champion scored big points against one of the best teams at the start of the new season. That can be seen as a good omen. In 2017, WAC won 2-0 in the first round, LASK was defeated 3-1 in 2018, and Rapid was defeated 2-0 in 2019.
“We have learned that it is always difficult to score three points in Wolfsberg. That is one of the reasons why it was an important victory. It was not the best performance, we can and must play better, but it was a good start for our boys,” he summarized Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch. His team was in control of the game and had a lot of possession from the first minute.
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Luka Lochoshvili’s (16) early stolen goal exclusion in his league debut played the defending champion on the cards. As for referee Markus Hameter’s decision, opinions were divided: “For me it was a clear red card, because otherwise Daka would have been in and out,” Marsch said.
His opponent, Ferdinand Feldhofer, had seen a violation of the Zambian forward in the duel. “Daka did very well, but he collides with the defender, so I would have given him a foul,” said the former defender. The red card was “clearly decisive for the game.” Eliel Peretz’s own goal (21st), which soon followed, further helped the guests. So the first league appearance of the Israeli in the clothing of the Carinthians failed. “It was bitter for Salzburg to go 1-0 without a shot on goal, that was the next setback,” said Feldhofer.
Dream teamwork between Ulmer and Daka to make it 2-0
Patson Daka’s first goal of the season (27th) made Salzburg’s double perfect and paved the way to victory. “The pass from Andi (Ulmer, note) was incredible and Patson was like an acrobat in the situation,” said the Salzburg manager, praising the two protagonists in the 2-0 victory. After 24 goals in 2019/20, the 21-year-old entered the shooting list early on. “It’s always good to score goals. I love it, it’s my job and it’s great motivation,” the Zambian team forward told Sky. He called a victory in the first league game “very important”.
Despite the majority, it wasn’t until the 82nd minute after the break that Sékou Koïta scored the third goal. Before that, when Cheikhou Dieng and Dominik Baumgartner fired two posts for the Carinthian team, the vigorously fighting Carinthians were close to the goal in one minute (56th each). “That shows how strong and willful this team is. The fact that the two shots from pole went to pole and not pole suited the game,” Feldhofer said. He was “very satisfied” with the performance of his team.
Feldhofer, WAC trainer, is optimistic about the future
With Dario Vizinger, one of the players could expect a dream start. The 22-year-old forward took less than 20 minutes to score his first league goal. That was 1: 3 in the last action in the 93rd minute. The Croatian showed scoring qualities, which is why Carinthians had signed him from Slovenian champion NK Celje (23 goals in 35 league games in 2019/20) until the summer of 2024. “It’s great that Dario scored right away,” said Feldhofer.
That is not the only reason he was optimistic about the future: “I think we have a very interesting team. We will need a little more time before all the automatisms take effect, but I am very optimistic.” The next hurdle is Hartberg on Sunday.
Salzburg will host Altach on Saturday. It is the dress rehearsal for the first match in the playoff of the Champions League qualifying against Maccabi Tel Aviv or Dinamo Brest. For Zlatko Junuzović it will be a race against time due to a broken muscle fiber in the right thigh. “Sladdi is very important to us, with his experience and feelings on the field. The injury is not that bad, hopefully there is an improvement this week,” said Marsch insight. On Friday it was said that the midfielder would be out for about three weeks due to the injury suffered in training.
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