Missed chances in home defeat

FC Red Bull Salzburg Women 1-3 SCR Altach (H/T:0-3). Goals: Grünwald (75.) - Mikulica (12., 45., 45.+2)

SCR Altach secured a 3–1 win at Liefering's Saalachspitz with some clinical counter-attacking. While Dusan Pavlovic's squad dictated the tempo of this ADMIRAL Women's Bundesliga match, the visitors were far more ruthless in front of goal. Hat-trick hero Mikulica effectively won the encounter herself.

Our team took to the pitch aiming to follow up on the previous week's emphatic cup win with a strong league performance. Katja Wienerroither threatened early on with a header, while Magdalena Schwarz and Alessia Pamminger also underlined the promising start with initial attempts. However, it was the visitors who found the net first. After a long ball forward from Lüscher, Mikulica suddenly broke clear - making it 1-0 (12').

Essentially, the story of the first 45 minutes was that we controlled the game, but Altach scored the goals. Lena Triendl tested goalkeeper Busse, while our captain Wienerroither failed to convert a prime opportunity set up by Triendl shortly afterwards. At the other end, Baumgartner and Mikulica launched a counter-attack and the latter finished inside the far corner (45') - and did so again two minutes later, completing a perfect hat-trick after a clever turn (45+2'). The teams headed into the break with the scoreline a disappointing 0–3.

Giving up wasn't an option. Substitute Christina Gierzinger set the tone as her shot from 20 yards out came very close to sparking a comeback. Emelie Kobler, also coming off the bench, was on the end of a neat passing sequence, though the finishing touch was still lacking . Then Valentina Lutz won the ball on the flank and played it to Julia Grünwald who drove past the defenders and found the net via the inside of the post, offering a glimmer of hope as we pulled it back to 1-3 (75').

We kept pushing, repeatedly putting the visitors under pressure in the closing stages. However, there were no further celebrations to be had. Ultimately, our team suffered their first home defeat of the season.

We conceded three goals from counter-attacks simply because we didn't defend well. Altach have the quality to finish those chances off. It felt like we were the ones dictating play in the first half, yet they were the ones scoring the goals. After the break, we reacted better to losing possession and created chances -though unfortunately, we only managed to score once. It wasn't all negative as we haven't had this many opportunities in a long time. It's just tough that we were punished for every mistake. Now we have to accept this and do better next time.

FC Red Bull Salzburg Women: Guha – Schirmbrand, Hamzic, Akrap, Illinger (32. Grünwald) – Lutz, Plattner – Schwarz (74. D'Angelo), Pamminger (64. Kobler), Triendl (46. Gierzinger) – Wienerroither © (64. Talwieser)

SCR Altach: Busse – Walter, Lüscher, Reisinger – Scheel (56. Schneider), Rittmann, Meister (70. Gajdek), Ebersold – Baumgartner (56. Bertsch), Mikulica, Ellgaß © (80. Stampfli)