5-1! Perfect Bundesliga home opener vs BW Linz

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·10 August 2024

5-1! Perfect Bundesliga home opener vs BW Linz

Salzburg festival of attacking football

Our fourth match of the season saw our fourth win. We could not have asked for any more on a superb summer's day than the way our boys sparkled under the lights at the Red Bull Arena on their first home match of the Austrian Bundesliga season against a brave FC Blau-Weiß Linz. The 5-1 win on the second Bundesliga matchday was more than deserved thanks to some breathtaking attacking football in the second period. Our boys now go into the UEFA Champions League qualifying second leg in the Netherlands brimming with self-belief.

Match summary

Pepijn Lijnders brought fresh legs into the tie after our UEFA Champions League win on Tuesday. Moussa Yeo made his first-ever Bundesliga start, while Swedish youngster John Mellberg – who extended his contract with us this week until 2028 - made his competitive debut for our Red Bulls, right from the start.

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Also from the start - like our previous performances this season - was sheer action from the word go! Just like against FC Twente and GAK, it did not take long for the first goal to come - but the visitors found the net. A quick move among the Linz outfit, whom we weren't able to get close enough to - led to Connor Noß (12') turning in from short range for a surprise 1-0 lead.

We continued to dictate the play, however, and soon struck back! Dedic dribbled superbly on the edge of the penalty area before Oscar Gloukh met the ball across right away to slot inside the far post (15'). The masterful playmaker then struck again less than 20 minutes later as he burst out of a tight spot to play a quick one-two with Petar Ratkov before knocking the ball in for 2-1 – as we surged in front (34')!

Gloukh almost grabbed a sensational hat-trick, only for Manuel Maranda to clear the ball away from the line to deny him. Chances came by the minute before the half-time whistle sounded.

We continued exactly where we left off at the start of the second half and put Blau-Weiß goalie Nicolas Schmid under continuous pressure. There was no stopping one of our number today though - Oscar Gloukh!

Moussa Yeo mazed his way past an opponent and cut the ball into the middle, where the 20-year-old Israeli converted clinically for 3-1 (62'). You could see the hope drain from the faces of the opponents at this stage as we stepped up and continued our sensational attacking show. Having provided an assist, Yeo crowned a fine first start a short while later with his first Bundesliga goal as we made it 4-1 (72'), after he made light work of the opposing defence with a quick twist and a well-placed shot.

FC Blau-Weiß Linz found it harder and harder to live with the tempo of our boys. The final touch came from Mads Bidstrup, who played in an unusually attacking position after coming on as a substitute. The Danish midfielder showed he can cut a decent figure in attack too by converting an absolute dream pass from compatriot Maurits Kjaergaard in the 77th minute to make it 5-1.

The win ensured we top the table until Sunday evening, at least, and take our winning run into our Champions League qualifier second leg in Enschede on Tuesday. Now it's a matter of throwing everything we have into the clash against Twente …

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I want to start by paying a big compliment to the people at the stadium today. The atmosphere in the second half was really special. I know it was only 11,000, but if the 11,000 are as loud as that, they really help the team and create an atmosphere the players can feel a connection with. When the stadium is like that, I'm the happiest person in the world. That's just what I wanted to see from the team. We wanted to show our fans how much we enjoy playing football, and we really managed that today! I'm here so that we can create such great attacking moments. It's wonderful to see that despite a few changes to the line-up, everything worked so well and the team can stick to the style. We now have to summon up this potential in the Netherlands too to make sure of it.

Pepijn Lijnders

Things are going well for me at the moment, for sure, and I am just very pleased for the team. We are playing well - we did against Twente already and again today. It was a bit up and down in the first half, but after that we did really well. On Tuesday we need to have fun like we did today.

Maurits Kjaergaard

Line-up

Substitutions

Terzic for Mellberg (64'), Kjaergaard for Capaldo (64'), Nene for Ratkov (64'), Bidstrup for Gloukh (74'), Gourna-Douath for Yeo (77')

Yellow cards

Piatkowski (32' foul)

Injury news

Not available for the match were Hendry Blank (thigh), Fernando (thigh), Daouda Guindo (metatarsal), Takumu Kawamura (knee), Karim Konate (knee), Leandro Morgalla (thigh) and Alexander Schlager (knee).