Football champions Red Bull Salzburg continued to soar, also winning their eighth Bundesliga game, but losing central defender Oumar Solet with a serious knee injury.
Seldom before have the favorite roles in the Bundesliga classic between Red Bull Salzburg and Rapid Vienna been so clearly divided as on Sunday. The Bulls played at home, had only received one defeat against the Hütteldorfer in the last 24 duels, led the table with a maximum of 21 points and also enjoyed a longer one after their glamorous Champions League debut in Seville (1: 1) Break as the Viennese, who only stopped at eight counts in the league and had to digest a last-minute 0: 1 against Genk in the Europa League. This was also reflected in the betting odds: The bookmakers gave a measly odds of 1.20 for a Salzburg win, but a complete Rapid success would have brought almost ten times as much.
The game began in front of 17,200 spectators as usual with the Rainermarsch and honors for the “Player of the Month” Nicolas Seiwald and captain Andreas Ulmer, who recently played his 500th competitive game for Red Bull Salzburg. But also with a real shock for the bulls: Oumar Solet, who has been playing in top form for weeks, sustained a serious knee injury while taking a long stride and had to be driven off the field by the Red Cross. The worst fear: another cruciate ligament rupture in the 21-year-old French man who had just recovered from one after a long rehab. Jérôme Onguéné took his place in the defense center, Max Wöber was absent from his ex-club due to illness, according to the club.
In terms of play, Salzburg had everything under control, but they weren’t really dangerous against the extremely low Rapidler. Right-back Rasmus Kristensen had the best chance, whose deflected shot thundered into the outside pole. The guests from the federal capital tried counter-football, but Rapid did not pose any serious threats either.
Little changed in the picture in the second half. Karim Adeyemi had the 1-0 on foot, but slipped after a great hook and shot Rapid Keeper Paul Gartler in the chest. Otherwise there was far too much going on in midfield, far from the danger zones. Bulls trainer Matthias Jaissle reacted by bringing in fan favorites Seiwald and Benjamin Šeško.
In the end, however, the focus was once again on Adeyemi. The leader of the Bundesliga scorers list fell in the penalty area in the 74th minute, Rapid defender Kevin Wimmer hit the fast bull striker unlucky from behind. But was the foul worthy of a penalty? Referee Markus Hameter and the video referee needed a full four minutes before the decision on a penalty kick was made amid large protests by the Rapid Bank. As if the mishap in Seville had never happened, Adeyemi grabbed the ball – and made it 1-0 (79th). In the final minute, Brenden Aaronson fixed the 2-0 final score after perfect preparatory work and a super sprint from substitute Noah Okafor over half the field.
Salzburg continued their record series, won their eighth league game this season and scored for the 41st (!) Time in a Bundesliga home game in a row. This equalized Rapid’s all-time record (1983 to 1986).
