Austria draw 0-0 against Red Bull Salzburg

A really strong performance by Austria Wien against Red Bull Salzburg was only rewarded with a point in the end. Aleksandar Jukić hit the crossbar and Alexander Schmidt missed a penalty in the 90th minute. Alexander Schlager saved the champions from defeat in the Generali-Arena with a number of brilliant saves (18 shots on goal by the Violets). Marvin Martins saw red in the closing stages and our goal ban has now lasted an incredible 795 minutes.

Against Red Bull Salzburg, coach Michael Wimmer returned to the successful team of recent weeks, with only Hakim Guenouche being replaced by Manuel Polster.

Salzburg were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Inter Milan on Wednesday, with coach Gerhard Struber making three changes to his starting XI: Andreas Ulmer, Oscar Gloukh and Roko Šimić remained out - Daouda Guindo, Amankwah Forson and Petar Ratkov moved into the team.

Strong first half for the Violets

After an even opening phase, the Violets took command after ten minutes with good tackling behaviour and bold attacking pressing. A shot from Aleksandar Jukić went wide of the goal, while a spectacular volley from Andreas Gruber after a cross from Manfred Fischer missed its target by a much narrower margin (7th, 16th). Alexander Schlager parried a Fischer shot and Fisnik Asllani missed a Manuel Polster pass by inches (17, 18).

Aco Jukić created danger in front of the Salzburg goal with two free-kicks. Fischer took the first, but shot over. The second free-kick reached Andi Gruber, whose header put Schlager in serious trouble - but the score remained 0-0 (34', 36'). Andreas Gruber had another good chance in stoppage time, but Schlager was again able to prevent the Violets from taking the lead. A very strong Austria (9:2 shots on goal) had Red Bull Salzburg well under control - 0:0 at the break.

Dramatic final phase

In the second half, Austria continued to make life more than difficult for the serial champions with their aggressive pressing. Salzburg produced little in attack, and Christian Früchtl did not even have to intervene when Petar Ratkov shot (53'). Practically on the counter-attack, Asllani tried to surprise Schlager with a shot from the corner of the penalty area, but the team goalkeeper fished the ball out of the corner of the net (54'). A short time later, Aleksandar Jukić hit the crossbar after a pass from Mandi Fischer and Schlager parried a shot from Andreas Gruber - a lead for Austria would have been highly deserved by now (57', 64').

Matthias Braunöder replaced Aleksandar Jukić in the 66th minute and a goal by substitute Dorgeles Nene was disallowed for offside (67'). Reinhold Ranftl got his leg in between the Malian's other shot (74'). Fisnik Asllani was replaced in the 77th minute by Alexander Schmidt, who had a good chance after just a few seconds but committed a foul beforehand.

Three minutes before the end, things got strange.Marvin Martins was hit in the penalty area and first saw yellow for a foul. Referee Stefan Ebner looked at the scene again, awarded a penalty for Austria and red for Martins, who had hit Alexander Schlager in the face in the heat of the moment. Alexander Schmidt stepped up to take the spot-kick and failed to beat Schlager - the Violets missed their best chance to take the lead and were outnumbered from then on (90') Alexander Schmidt stepped up to take the spot-kick and failed to beat Schlager - the Violets missed their best chance to take the lead and were outnumbered from then on (90').

Ratkov put a volley over the goal in stoppage time and the score remained the same. Austria kept a clean sheet for the eighth game in a row and drew 0-0 with the reigning champions.

FK Austria Wien - FC Red Bull Salzburg 0:0

Austria: Früchtl; Handl, Martins, Galvão; Ranftl, Jukić (66. Braunöder), Potzmann, Polster; Gruber, Asllani (77. Schmidt), Fischer (90.+2 Baltaxa)

Salzburg: Schlager; Dedić, Baidoo, Pavlović, Guindo; Capaldo, Bidstrup, Sučić (90.+2 Gourna-Douath), Forson (59. Nene); Ratkov, Konate (59. Šimić)Goals: non

Yellow cards: Jukić (20), Schmidt (78), Baltaxa (90+3); Guindo (33), Forson (35), Pavlović (83), Schlager (84), Capaldo (89)

Red card: Martins (88.)

Generali-Arena, referee Stefan Ebner, 13,153 spectators