What a start to spring – a 2-0 win in Salzburg!

Austria beat Red Bull Salzburg for the first time since May 2018, and away from home, fans had been waiting for three points since September 2014. Abubakr Barry put the Violets ahead with a dream goal in the 21st minute, and Johannes Eggestein added another three minutes later. Vasilije Marković celebrated his debut, Johannes Handl his comeback. Austria conceded little over 90 minutes and ultimately deserved the win. The Violets climb to third place in the table, with the home derby coming up next Sunday – everyone to the stadium!

Stephan Helm, who was on the Austria bench for the 50th time in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga, fielded the same starting eleven as in the last successful test match against GAK. Samuel Şahin-Radlinger was in goal as usual, with Kang Hee Lee, Aleksandar Dragović and Tin Plavotić forming the back three. Reinhold Ranftl, Philipp Maybach, Abubakr Barry and Taeseok Lee started in midfield. Captain Manfred Fischer, Johannes Eggestein and Sanel Šaljić started in attack. Philipp Wiesinger was suspended after receiving a yellow card, while Kelvin Boateng was not in the squad due to the birth of his child.

Red Bull Salzburg already had three competitive matches under their belts. Compared to the narrow cup win against WAC, Tim Trummer started in place of Stefan Lainer, while Mamady Diambou and Kerim Alajbegović replaced Soumaila Diabate (suspended) and Clement Bischoff in coach Thomas Letsch's starting line-up. New signing Damir Redzic was not yet eligible to play due to suspension.

Double strike by Barry and Eggestein

Austria had the first chances of the game, with Manfred Fischer failing to beat Alexander Schlager after Abubakr Barry won the ball high up the pitch (7'). Just a minute later, Sanel Šaljić appeared in front of the Salzburg goalkeeper, but was clearly offside (8'). The runners-up's first shot, by Mads Bidstrup, went well over the goal (18'). 

In the 21st minute, the 1,000 travelling Veilchen fans had reason to cheer when Abu Barry scored a beautiful goal to make it 0-1. After a nice build-up from the back, Barry left two Salzburg players in his wake with a clever feint. Following a one-two with Fischer, the Gambian shot from the edge of the box and buried the ball in the top corner!

The Austria fans' cheers had not yet died down when Barry won a corner. Šaljić delivered the ball perfectly to the centre, where Johannes Eggestein was in the right place at the right time to make it 0-2 (24').

Samuel Şahin-Radlinger saved a deflected shot from Frans Krätzig (31'), while a goal from Edmund Baidoo was disallowed for a narrow offside (32'). Kitano shot wide (35'), and the Mozartstädter grew stronger towards the end of the first half.

Barry had another chance to shoot in the 42nd minute after a nice combination, but the ball went over the goal. The Violets continued to pose a threat in the three minutes of added time, but Austria went into the half-time break with a 2-0 lead.

Austria defence unbeatable

After the break, Şahin-Radlinger saved Austria from conceding a goal with a great save against Baidoo (52'), while at the other end, Sanel Šaljić was stopped at the last moment by substitute Kjærgaard after a pass from Eggestein (54'). Şahin-Radlinger was also alert to a shot from Alajbegović at the near post (58').

After an hour, Stephan Helm made a substitution: Dejan Radonjić and Konstantin Aleksa came on for Philipp Maybach and Sanel Šaljić. Radonjić played in central defence, while Kang Hee Lee moved up to the six position.

After a long break, the Salzburg Bulls had another chance in the 78th minute, but substitute Clement Bischoff shot wide of the goal. Ten minutes before the end, U17 World Cup runner-up Vasilije Marković made his debut for the professional team, replacing Kang Hee Lee. Shortly afterwards, Johannes Handl celebrated his comeback, replacing the outstanding Abu Barry.  

The Violets' defence delivered an outstanding performance and was never in danger again. Austria won 2-0 in Salzburg and are now unbeaten in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga for seven years at the start of the year.

FC Red Bull Salzburg - FK Austria Wien 0-2 (0-2)

Salzburg: Schlager; Trumer (54. Bischoff), Gadou, Schuster, Krätzig (71. Onisiwo); Kitano, Bidstrup, Diambou (46. Kjærgaard), Alajbegović; Baidoo, Konaté (46. Yeo)
Austria: Şahin-Radlinger; Kang Hee Lee (81. Marković), Dragović, Plavotić; Ranftl, Maybach (62. Radonjić), Barry (89. Handl), Taesok Lee; Fischer, Eggestein, Šaljić (62. Aleksa)

Goals: Barry (21.), Eggestein (24.)

Yellow card: Handl (90.)

Red Bull Arena, referee Harald Lechner, 7,459 spectators