Course of the game
Once again, the Red Bulls had to do without many of their regular players, with a total of seven outfield players and goalkeeper David Kickert missing today due to injury. Ryan Murphy was back, and academy players Maximilian Wurzer and Lukas Hörl also played for Salzburg's professional team. VSV started the game with a short solo run by Mark Katic (2nd). Shortly afterwards, Lucas Thaler hit the bar (4th) and from that moment on, the Red Bulls basically dominated proceedings with a lot of running and good forechecking. Peter Schneider then struck twice, first scoring from the right from an acute angle with a direct shot (14th) and then netting again from close range on the left just eight seconds later. Troy Bourke had the next big chance on a solo run (16'), but goalkeeper Atte Tolvanen thwarted one of Guus van Nes' few good opportunities with a 2-on-1 (18'). Salzburg's 2:0 lead after 20 minutes corresponded to the course of the game.
The Red Bulls continued like this, Luca Auer was served in the slot and gave Villach goalkeeper Joe Cannata no chance when he scored to make it 3:0 (23'). And again and again this aggressive pressing. Salzburg played, had a lot of possession, Villach reacted. Florian Baltram, among others, had a shot right in front of goal (16.). The Red Bulls also worked close to the man in the defensive zone and hardly allowed anything worth mentioning, Atte Tolvanen was on hand for two or three good shots. Philipp Krening then pushed the disc over the line for a fourth time (38') after strong preparatory work by Peter Hochkofler and made it 4:0 at the break from Salzburg's point of view.
Villach started the final period with a dangerous power play. The game was now more open, as Villach put more into the game. Villach's attacks became better and more frequent, the Salzburg defense was challenged more. In the 51st minute, the home side scored their first goal in the powerplay, Kevin Hancock scoring on the rebound. Suddenly the game was hot again as the home side struck again shortly after a strong powerplay, Maximilian Rebernig scoring from close range to make it 2:4 from Villach's point of view (57'). However, Peter Schneider sealed the deal with a goal into an empty net and his hat-trick (58'), even though Villach's Guus van Nes also managed another goal (60'). The final period thus went to the home side, but the Red Bulls ultimately celebrated a well-deserved 5:3 away win against VSV.