Home win in dream return

FC Red Bull Salzburg

·11 February 2023

Home win in dream return

Fernando nets brace on return from injury!

Our boys were bold as they returned to Austrian Bundesliga action today. They put all the background noise and worries behind them to go into a clash with the newly promoted side brimming with focus.

Match summary

Our boys took to the field in a red and silver special kit – and among them was Fernando, who completed his long-awaited comeback to the starting XI after five months out injured. Maurits Kjaergaard started the attacking efforts by hitting over, but then it was the man from Belo Horizonte who began to remind us just what he is capable of. Lustenau gave their all going forward, but Andi Ulmer, who was selected today at left-back instead of Bernardo, grabbed hold of the ball and chipped it into the middle. Fernando beat Hugonet to it but didn't connect well enough to trouble the away target.

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The newly promoted side showed they have plenty of defensive stability, with a steely showing that left just the occasional chance coming our way. Noah Okafor hit the side netting while Strahinja Pavlovic had the final half-chance before the change of ends. Lustenau were offering nothing in the way of attacking threat, with their expected-goals value of 0.0 speaking volumes.

After we emerged again back onto the pitch, you could see our boys step up the pace - as Fernando took on the main role! The attacker took the ball confidently at the far post from a Kjaergaard delivery, took aim and smashed the ball into the roof of the net (48')!

We hadn't waited so long for Austrian Bundesliga action to be content with a single goal, however. We wanted more! Amar Dedic looked up in his own half and threaded a sensational ball through to the goalscorer, who danced around Anderson and slotted the ball superbly inside the far post (52')! The Lustenau resistance had been broken, and our boys were just buoyant. Nici Seiwald was the next to have a go, when the visitors cleared to him, and the ball flew off Maak and straight past Schierl – for Nici's first Austrian Bundesliga goal (76')!

Junior Adamu was unfortunate to hit two offside goals with very narrow calls, but Nicolas Capaldo had the honour of capping the win. A misplaced pass landed to our players - and after a fluent attacking move, the ball was taken in the area by the substitute, who smashed in from just outside the box (90+1') – in front of fellow sub Oscar Gloukh. Matthias Jaissle & Co therefore made a perfect start to the league in 2023!

Views

Lustenau did really well at the start. We were performing well, but we were able to shift up another gear. My goal pleases me so much, of course, as I had to wait so long for it. Now it finally came, and hopefully more goals will come. We showed today what we are capable of, and we would like to build on that ahead of Thursday.

Nici Seiwald

Making a debut like that is really exciting, of course. I would like to build on that, and hopefully score goals of my own and provide my own assists soon. The team have welcomed me really well, and I have made friends here straight away. Hopefully I will get the chance next week against Roma to show what I can do.

Oscar Gloukh

Here and there the precision was lacking at the start, but I thought there was a lot of good stuff in the first half. If you keep the tempo so high, then the chances come with time. The margin of victory seemed fair. Without any disrespect to Lustenau, we will definitely have a different kind of game on Thursday. AS Roma are a world-class team who will push us to the limit. We showed an important reaction today after our cup exit, and we go into the next match feeling good.

Matthias Jaissle