Young Bulls take home win after dramatic finish

After a hard-fought 1-1 draw in the first leg last week, our Young Bulls took a well-deserved 4-3 win in the home leg of the second round in the UEFA Youth League Champions Path! With an aggregate score of 5–4, we saw off the Belgian youth champions, KRC Genk, although two harsh red cards made for a dramatic end.

At first, it looked like the game would unfold similarly to the one the previous week. Our Young Bulls got off to the better start. Genk, completely off their game at the beginning, practically handed us the opening goal. A disastrous mispass during the build-up landed right at the feet of Kenneth Adejenughure. The forward shot from a tight angle, and Miha Matjasec was there to tap it in for a 1–0 lead (4'). Then the match suddenly swung in the visitors’ favour. Genk became increasingly dangerous. At first, Hupfauf made two strong saves, but he had no chance of stopping a penalty kick in the 21st minute.

This time, though, our guys responded the right way and quickly regained control. In the end, it was Matjasec once again who was in exactly the right spot at the far post after a pass from Adejenughure and slammed home a powerful shot to make it 2-1. From then on, we clearly dictated the pace of the game and created several top-notch scoring chances before half-time, though we weren’t able to capitalise on them.

We made up for that after the restart. Once again, a major blunder by the Belgian defence put us in a prime scoring position, and Ilia Ivanschitz kept his cool when left alone in front of goalkeeper Van Laere (51'). Genk subsequently lost their rhythm completely, while we came much closer to scoring the next goal than the visitors did to pulling one back. Whenever things got dicey - as in the 65th or 79th minute - Hupfauf was there to save the day.

Then another fabulous moment came: after a corner kick, Onwuzulike rose highest and headed the ball in to make it 4–1. Things really heated up in the closing minutes after two red cards (Masching in the 77th minute and Grudzinskas in the 81st). With a two-man advantage, the Belgians pulled one back to 2-4 on a direct free kick (83rd) and even added another goal in the 89th minute to make it 3-4. In the end, though, the win - and with it, a spot in the next round - was sealed!

With a 5-4 aggregate score against KRC Genk, we have earned our place in the third round of the UYL Championship Path. There, we’ll face the winner of tomorrow’s match between Red Star Belgrade and NK Bravo (Red Star won the first leg 1-0). The third round will be played on November 25 and December 9, with us hosting the first leg. The winners will advance to the Round of 32 of the UEFA Youth League. From that round onwards, the winner will be determined in a single leg.

FC Salzburg U19: Hupfauf – Feldinger, Masching, Onwuzulike, Zangerl – Grudzinskas, Aleksic – Matjasec (71' Sulbaran), Ivanschitz © (83. Pokorny), Moser (71. Matijasevic) – Adejenughure (60. Nisic)

KRC Genk U19: Van Laere – Moorthamer (63. Bafai), Saidi, Kapers ©, El Morabet (25. Njoku) – Borgers, Mocsnik (86. Vanschoenwinkel), De Groof – N'Salambi, Dauletov, Alvarez Fernandez (63. Balde)

Referee: Danilo Nikolic (SRB)

Goals: Matjasec (4', 37'), Ivanschitz (51'), Onwuzulike (70'); Alvarez Fernandez (21' [penalty]), Kapers (83'), Balde (89')

Yellow cards: Matjasec (45+2/foul), Masching (64/foul), Matijasevic (84'/unsportsmanlike conduct) and Mocsnik (23'/foul), Balde (74'/foul), Bafai (90+4'/foul)

Red cards: Masching (77'/second yellow card), Grudzinskas (81'/denying scoring opportunity)