T-Mobile Bundesliga, Round 21. SK Rapid Vienna 1-3 Red Bull Salzburg (H/T: 1-2). RBS Goals: Leitgeb, Steinhöfer, Zickler
Huge relief could be heard around Salzburg this evening with the Bulls’ eagerly anticipated first away win of the season finally coming in the shape of a sensational victory against Austria’s most successful club of all time!
Red Bull Salzburg today raced to a 3-1 win over SK Rapid Vienna in front of 15,000 fans at the Hanappi Stadium in the clash of the 21st round in the T-Mobile Bundesliga.
Leitgeb, Steinhöfer and Zickler got the goals that granted the champions a comprehensive and richly deserved away success.
The rare away victory rocketed Trapattoni’s men up to third place in the table!
Red Bull Salzburg made a few changes at Rapid with Steinhöfer returning from suspension to line up alongside Miyamoto at full-back. Aufhauser took the place of the suspended Carboni while Leitgeb also got a start. The line-up: Ochs; Steinhöfer, Sekagya, Vargas, Miyamoto; Aufhauser, Kovac; Leitgeb, Jezek; Ilic; Zickler.
And the Bulls get a dream start in Vienna!
6 minutes: Kovac plays a wonderful ball up to Zickler, who sublimely sends Leitgeb away with a back heel before the Austrian slams past Rapid keeper Helge Payer! A delightful goal sends Red Bull Salzburg into a welcome 1-0 away lead!
14 minutes: Dober rasps a testing shot in from a good 40 yards but Ochs is ready and waiting to make the save.
17 minutes: The Bulls almost make it 2-0! Kovac heads a Jezek corner into the path of the free-standing Miyamoto, but the Japanese star clips the ball over from a mere three yards out!
With 20 minutes on the clock, Salzburg are stealing the show with 55 per cent possession and a blistering level of commitment that is strangling Rapid and giving them virtually no time to string together an attack.
23 minutes: Bazina passes to Bilic but Vargas dispossesses the Rapid man in the penalty area. Zickler then squanders a chance at the other end by failing to make a proper contact with Steinhöfer’s incoming ball (25 mins).
27 mins: Boskovic’s free-kick finds Bazina, whose headed effort is confidently turned away to the corner by Timo Ochs.
The ensuing corner leads to the equaliser! Hofmann picks out Boskovic, who nods down to Tokic, allowing the Croatian defender to slam home from short-range past the helpless Timo Ochs (1-1 29 mins).
The equaliser rejuvenates Rapid and the Vienna side start to rove forward. But on 38 minutes a Markus Steinhöfer wonder goal fires Salzburg back into the lead!
With Rapid keeper Helge Payer booting the ball far into the distance following a corner, all danger appeared to have been cleared. Steinhöfer had other ideas however and slotted home sensationally from fully 40 yards.
The whistle blows to end the first half with Salzburg enjoying a well-deserved lead thanks to a great performance.
Sporting Director Heinz Hochhauser at half-time: “We had a good talk with the players yesterday and it seems to have helped. The team played some great football in the first 45 minutes aside from conceding the careless set-piece equaliser.”
The match resumes in Vienna with Salzburg unchanged.
The Bulls adeptly do their best to take the heat of the game in the opening minutes of the second period but at the same time remain a constant menace on the counter-attack.
58 minutes: 3-1 to Red Bull Salzburg! Ilic sends Zickler soaring through the Rapid defence with a delicious long pass. The German striker loses his marker with aplomb and dinks the ball into the far corner with his left foot for his tenth goal of the season!
The Bulls are now in full control of the match, coming off better in most challenges and pluckily heading forward.
74 minutes: Rapid have a decent opportunity with Boskovic firing in a well-placed header from Hofmann’s cross. Ochs is able to push the ball over the bar however.
78 minutes: Red Bull Salzburg make their first substitution as Jezek comes on for Pitak/
Sascha Ilic has been outstanding for Salzburg today. Without a doubt it has been the Serb’s best performance in a Bulls’ shirt.
82 minutes: Rapid have a good chance but Hoffer pulls wide to the right after springing up in front of Timo Ochs.
83 minutes: The Bulls make another change as Zickler makes way for Rakic.
Amateur player Norman Prenn comes on in stoppage time to make his Bulls’ debut by replacing Leitgeb.
Red Bull Salzburg hold firm in the final few minutes and rejoice at a deserved 3-1 win at the record champions: their first away win of the season!
Giovanni Trapattoni: “Of course I’m really pleased with this win. We played very well and deservedly won. We didn’t play badly in the past few away games but we tended to be unlucky. With the mindset on display today we can regain our title.”
Markus Steinhöfer: “We showed today that we are able to play away from home. This match definitely signals a turning-point for me. We have a home match next week which will allow us to catch up more ground.”
Alexander Zickler: “We always put in a good showing against Rapid. We were the much better team today and deserved to win. I hope that we can perform just as well in the last pair of matches before the winter break. I am particularly pleased that Sascha Ilic has finally been able to show what he is capable of.”
