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LIVE from 14:30: WSG Tirol vs. Red Bull Salzburg

Tirol and Salzburg share the points.

(Bild: GEPA)

Red Bull Salzburg are still chasing their first win since August 21, four games ago. On Sunday, the Bulls were held to a 0-0 draw at WSG Tirol in the 7th round of the Bundesliga and, with two games less to play, are still only in the chasing pack in the table. 

Four days after the 3-0 defeat at Sparta Prague in the Champions League, the league giants once again failed to do much against an underdog side that fought with discipline and self-sacrifice.

(Bild: GEPA)

Konate in the starting eleven
Salzburg coach Pepijn Lijnders made four changes to his starting eleven compared to the Sparta game, the most prominent of which was in the center of the attack. Karim Konate made his first start since August 2 after recovering from a knee injury and making his comeback in Prague.

However, the man from the Ivory Coast hardly made an appearance in the first half. WSG disrupted the favorites' build-up play well and initially offered little space, while Salzburg were too sluggish to create any despite a lot of ball circulation. Apart from a few pinpricks and a harmless long-range shot from Valentino Müller (4'), the Bulls were under-employed defensively, but as the game wore on they at least posed a little more danger. Oscar Gloukh's first shot was saved by Adam Stejskal (29'), and the WSG goalkeeper also had no problem with Kamil Piatkowski's header (31').

Resilient Tyroleans fight for a deserved point
Wattens survived the short power play, remained cheeky as they did with Matthäus Taferer's unsuccessful shot attempt from the halfway line (39') and took the 0:0 into half-time. The character of the game did not change after the restart. Salzburg struggled in vain, a desperate shot from distance by new signing Stefan Bajcetic (50th/over) was the only thing that could be scored for the time being.

The game was then stopped for around eleven minutes on the hour mark because a steward was hit on the head by the ball and had to be taken away after receiving medical attention.

Lijnders brought on Bobby Clark and Mamady Diambou (78') after Dorgele's ninth for the hapless Moussa Yeo and then had probably the best chance of the game around 20 minutes before the end. The previously unimpressive Adam Daghim forced Stejskal into a real save (82') and Salzburg tightened the screws.

However, WSG only faltered briefly and countered with a dangerous header from Jamie Lawrence and a shot from Florian Rieder that was blocked at the last second (both 90'). At the other end, Samson Baidoo headed just inches wide (96') and there were no more goals.

WSG Tirol - Red Bull Salzburg 0:0
Innsbruck, Tivoli Stadion Tirol, 3,650, refereed by Semler
Yellow cards: Sulzbacher and Dedic

WSG: Stejskal - Sulzbacher, Lawrence, D. Gugganig, Czyborra - Taferner, Müller, Blume (86. Üstündag) - Butler (81. Naschberger), Hinterseer (86. Diarra), Rieder (101. Okungbowa)
Salzburg: Blaswich - Dedic, Piatkowski, Baidoo, Blank (92. Morgalla) - Gloukh, Gourna-Douath (78. Diambou), Bajcetic (78. Clark) - Daghim (92. Ratkov), Konate, Yeo (61. Nene)