Serene 3-0 win in Tirol Three points after two early goals Consider us ready for our next European challenge! Our team left no doubt at the foot of the Patscherkofel mountain, winning their ADMIRAL Bundesliga match against WSG Tirol 3-0 after a convincing performance. While Wattens specialist Karim Konate – and Frans Krätzig 107 seconds later – put us on the road to a win early on, Sota Kitano had the last word in front of nearly 4,000 fans. Christian Zawieschitzky also had a big part to play in today's success with a penalty save. Match summary Kick-off & 15' – racing in front
Our lads converted their superiority into goals early on. While Edmund Baidoo's volley lacked precision, Tirol nemesis Karim Konate fared considerably better with his seventh career goal against them. Frans Krätzig immediately turned the ball on during a counter-attack, and our Ivorian – again playing in the number 10 position today – hammered it into the net (15') 17' – quick second
Our cheers hadn't even died down when we threw our arms up in celebration again: Damir Redzic controlled the ball on the wing, made a powerful run into the penalty area, and laid it off into the centre. 107 seconds after the opening goal, Frans Krätzig pounced on the loose ball after Yorbe Vertessen had flicked it to him (17'). 30' and 45'+4 – hosts battle back We had everything under control when suddenly the Tyroleans launched a counter-attack. First, Hinterseer hit the post from close range – a real sitter – then goalkeeper Christian Zawieschitzky made a crucial save in a duel with Olakigbe. That we went into half-time with a 2-0 lead was thanks to our goalkeeper - referee Christian-Petru Ciochirca had spotted a handball by Zabransky, and Zawieschitzky and his defenders together saved the resulting penalty from Hinterseer as well as two subsequent efforts on the rebound (45'+4) Second half to 70' – quiet before the storm
The second 45 minutes were considerably less eventful as the challenging pitch and the onset of rain made for a slow start. While the hosts struggled to threaten, Sota Kitano, who celebrated his birthday on Thursday, sealed the victory. Tirol youngster Gschösser lost the ball to Abubakr Barry, who set up Kitano. From the right side of the box, the substitute had no trouble making it 3-0 (70'). 74' & 78' and 85' & 90' – still setting the tone
In the final stages, Nikolas Veratschnig, whose shot was blocked, and Karim Konate – whose effort went too high – both tried for a fourth goal. Bartosz Mazurek and Aboubacar Camara also came dangerously close to scoring their first goals for us in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga, as we held onto the comfortable win. Look ahead
The serene win sets us up perfectly for the the UEFA Europa League play-off in Mjällby – at 18:00 on Thursday! Views We won as a team, and that is very, very important. After last week's draw, it was all the more crucial to get a win. We've done our homework in Europe - we're on track there. In terms of our overall performance, we need to continue developing. After six games, things look quite decent, but we're not yet where we want to be.
Today we started well, were clinical in front of goal, and made it 2-0. Then we had a phase where we let the opponents get too much into the game and conceded some opportunities. At half-time, it could easily have been 6-3. In the second half, we generally played it out very professionally. In the last 15 minutes, I would like to have seen more control. That's something we need to work on. Danny Röhl Perhaps we need to be more composed in one or two situations, but overall it was a good win. It feels good right now and we're getting the results we need. There's a spirit developing, and that's exactly how it should be. Now we have to keep it up, so we can take a match like today's even more cleanly over the finish line. Frans Krätzig Match data Line-ups & substitutionsWSG Tirol: Hamzic – Murray, Boras, Kubatta, Gschösser (71. Jaunegg) – Satin (46. Celic), Striednig – Balic (82. Gugganig), Goiginger (71. Baden Frederiksen), Olakigbe – Hinterseer © (82. Wieser)FC Red Bull Salzburg: Zawieschitzky – Morgalla (21. Veratschnig), Drexler, Zabransky, Krätzig (68. Schmid) – Barry ©, Kjaergaard – Baidoo (61. Mazurek), Konate, Redzic (61. Camara) – Vertessen (46. Kitano) Goals: Konate (15.), Krätzig (17.), Kitano (70.)Attendance: 3,720Referee: Christian-Petru CiochircaYellow cards: Gschösser (21./Foul), Olakigbe (50./Foul), Celic (90.+1/Foul) Injury news
Enrique Aguilar (forearm), Soumaila Diabate (thigh), Gaoussou Diakite and Johannes Moser (adductors) were not available for this match. Anrie Chase, Stefan Lainer and Justin Omoregie were also not yet match fit.