In the last round of the regular season in the Austrian Bundesliga, series champions Red Bull Salzburg had to be content with a 1-1 draw against bottom Altach.
Austria’s football champions Red Bull Salzburg ended the regular season of the Bundesliga with a disappointment. In the 1-1 draw against Altach, bottom of the table, the Bulls even had to come from behind and did not manage to surpass the previous year’s record of 55 points. The series champions have been unbeaten in 37 Bundesliga home games (30 wins, 7 draws), but the draw against the table laggard before the international break was a setback.
Red Bull Salzburg missed record
It took a quarter of an hour against Altach before Salzburg came dangerously in front of the Vorarlberg goal. Capaldo passed on Sesko, who appeared alone in front of the Altach keeper. But Sesko failed with a dribble at the Altacher Jungdal goalkeeper. He also excelled in a shot by Ulmer. And Bernardo put the ball just wide of the goal from the edge of the penalty area. But Salzburg didn’t manage, as expected, to put the blatant outsider and bottom of the table under so much pressure that he faltered. There was a lack of precision in many attack scenes.
Bulls had to catch up
The Bulls controlled the game without shining. And Salzburg were lucky that Altach striker Nuhiu just missed the goal after a counterattack (41′). Who would have thought that the latecomer could embarrass the Bulls’ defense so much. The professionals from the series champion and coach Matthias Jaissle crept into the dressing room with their heads hanging because Solet also failed to goalkeeper Jungdal (42nd). The Bulls were the better team, but they were too harmless in front of goal.
Altach also got off to a good start after the break. If Thurnwald shot, Salzburg goalkeeper Köhn would have had no chance. The ball just missed the Kreuzeck by a few centimeters (49′). So it was no longer a surprise that Altach took the lead. Salzburg’s Gourna-Douath could only correct his bad pass with a foul. Thurnwald hit the free kick on the crossbar, Nuhiu converted the rebound into the far corner (55th) to make it 1-0.
Sesko headed late
Now Salzburg coach Jaissle had to react. Okafor and Forson replaced Koita and Capaldo. But Forson also lacked quality in front of goal. He missed a top chance to equalize (62′). The champions pushed for an equaliser, but were unable to match the good performances of the last few days. Only after a cross from Okafor, which Sesko converted with a header, was the champion able to breathe a little and still avoid embarrassment (83′). And in the final phase, Okafor, Adamu and Sesko missed three more match points.
