0-2 defeat at Blau-Weiß Linz | OneFootball

Beaten by clinical hosts

We ended up taking our third defeat of the season in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga in Linz. A close first-half led to few chances at either end, despite our control of the ball. Things changed straight after the restart with a goal conceded within seconds of the new period starting and a second strike soon following to seal a disappointing afternoon.

Match summary

At a sold-out stadium in Linz, it was our Red Bulls who created pressure in the opening stages. Bobby Clark, Nicolas Capaldo and Oscar Gloukh were pulling the strings of some intricate attacking moves, with Daouda Guindo sending in a threatening free-kick (5'). At the other end, it was the evergreen Ronivaldo who kept Alex Schlager and his defensive colleagues busy. The Brazilian bustled and bounded his way into the box, only to smash the ball well over.

Vitor Matos, our boys' assistant coach, stepped in for the suspended Pep Lijnders today and had to contend with hosts who increasingly threatened. Goiginger and our tricky loanee Soumaila Diabate caused some issues, but our defence held firm. We tried to pounce with Dorgeles Nene hitting a cross-cum-shot from the right corner of the area, but his effort zipped straight past Vitek in the Linz goal (13').

On the half-hour mark, Lucas Gourna-Douath – our midfield anchor – showed his class again by teeing the ball forward to Karim Konate. The hosts' defender Maranda crowded the double goalscoring hero from Feyenoord out before he could get a shot away, however (30'). Captain Schlager then had to chase out of the goal to prevent Schmidt from latching onto a dangerous long ball – with our goalkeeper using all his experience to deny the attacker. Virtually on the stroke of half-time, Schlager reacted to an Anderson cross – and it was goalless going into the break. Neither the fans nor our defenders had taken up their positions after the restart by the time the ball was in the net! A one-two between Kamil Piatkowski and Capaldo went badly wrong and Ronivaldo seized on the opportunity, charging forward and tucking home calmly. The hosts were clearly boosted by the opening goal and looked for more. We finally got some shots of our own in as Mamady Diambou took aim from distance after a Capaldo shot was blocked, but again we saw a defender get in the way of his effort (56').

Things were flying at both ends of the pitch, with Gloukh & Co battling for more of the play, but the Blue and Whites scoring again. Briedl casually took aim from around 25 yards out and a wicked deflection took it past Alex Schlager. Our coaching team reacted be bringing on four fresh players in Stefan Bajcetic, Mads Bidstrup, Aleksa Terzic and Moussa Yeo. We tried to chase our way back, but the determined home defence were not having any of it. The Linz side continued to trouble us too, limiting our Red Bulls' attacks.

The clock kept on ticking away yet we were unable - with the exception of a Yeo header over from a Terzic cross (73') – to create clear opportunities. The hosts had no such difficulties, as they worked the ball forwards and created chance after chance. We could have no complaints about the two-goal deficit, and we even had Alex Schlager to thank for it not being an even larger margin. With chances few and far between in the final stages, we headed to defeat.

The disappointing away defeat sees us into the final international break of 2024. You can find out here in the coming days which of our boys are in action for their national teams.

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Pep Lijnders

Samson Baidoo

Alex Schlager

Line-up

Substitutions

Terzic for Guindo (62'), Bajcetic for Gourna-Douath (62'), Bidstrup for Diambou (62'), Yeo for Konate (62'), Daghim for Clark (81')

Yellow cards

Lucas Gourna-Douath (44' foul)

Injury news

Not available for the match were Amar Dedic (adductors), Fernando (thigh), Maurits Kjaergaard (ankle) and Bryan Okoh (thigh). Joane Gadou was out suspended. Takumu Kawamura is back in training after a long injury break but is not yet ready to play.