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At the start of the 2020/2021 Bundesliga season, champions Red Bull Salzburg celebrated an undisputed 3-1 victory at Wolfsberger AC.
When Red Bull Salzburg stormed the championship title earlier in the summer, only the WAC was able to briefly interrupt the party. The 0: 0 and 2: 2 against Carinthians were the March team’s only losses in the championship round. At the start of the new season, the bulls were no longer surprised by the Wolfsbergs. In Sunday’s 3-1 (2-0) victory, Andreas Ulmer and company had a good penultimate test before the start of the Champions League playoffs. Even without the ill Zlatko Junuzovic and Karim Adeyemi, success was never in jeopardy, also because the opponent had to act outnumbered for 75 minutes.
How did the personal imbalance arise? Salzburg forward Patson Daka and Wolfsberg defender Luka Lochoshvili had only a quarter of an hour to meet. It could have been the game’s duel, but then the Georgian, who had just joined WAC, switched to his national sport: referee Markus Hameter rightly punished the fighter’s appearance as the last man against Daka with the red card.
Own goal took the lead
With one more man, Salzburg had an easy game against the concentrated Wolfsberg defense. The first hit was only a matter of time. But then it was achieved by a player who the WAC actually committed to scoring goals against. A strong center from Dominik Szoboszlai jumped Eliel Peretz to his feet at his own goal (22), the debut of fellow Israeli and successor to top scorer Shon Weissman had imagined otherwise. In any case, everything that could go wrong had gone wrong for WAC and especially its new acquisitions.
Patson Daka wants to be the top scorer this season and started it five minutes later, top marks included. A wide assist from Andreas Ulmer stopped the Zambian with his chest, he beat goalkeeper Alexander Kofler and completed the volley to 2-0.
Two poles as a wake-up call
A second goal was denied to Daka as he missed with the first attack after the break from close range. Both teams agreed to a leisurely pace in late summer. Only Cheikhou Dieng disturbed the calm in front of 3,000 spectators in the Lavanttal Arena and started the most remarkable 30 seconds of the second half with a quick counterattack. His 35-meter shot surprised Cican Stankovic, but he finished on pole as did Dominik Baumgartner’s last attempt (56th).
With new offensive forces, Salzburg coach Jesse Marsch revived the offensive spirit again. Newcomers Luka Sucic and Sekou Koita clearly showed that they want even more. Koita took advantage of the free space after a counterattack at 3-0 (82nd). In injury time, Dario Vizinger made it 3-1 after Max Wöber missed the center line.
“It was important for us to have a good start to the season,” said Salzburg captain Andreas Ulmer. “It was a decent performance on our part at the beginning and we can be satisfied with that.” Dress rehearsal for international business takes place at the home start against Altach on Saturday.
