◤UEFA Champions League◢ Red Bull Salzburg overcome Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 courtesy of a Noah Okafor penalty..

2022-10-06 11:23

◤UEFA Champions League◢ Red Bull Salzburg overcome Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 courtesy of a Noah Okafor penalty..



Red Bull Salzburg beat Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 in the third round of Group E of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage at the Red Bull Arena with a penalty.


In the first half, there were very few effective attacks from both sides. In the second half, Okafor scored a penalty and gave the home team the lead. At the critical moment before the end of the game, Drmić successfully headed in a goal, but the linesman immediately ruled that he was in a offside position in the first place, and the visiting Croatian Prva HNL club missed the opportunity to force their opponents into a draw. In the end, Red Bull Salzburg beat Dynamo Zagreb 1-0. Red Bull Salzburg leads the group with 5 points; Dinamo Zagreb is at the bottom with 3 points, but their qualifying situation is still clear.



First Half


In the 7th minute, Luka Ivanušec made a horizontal pass from the left, Josip Mišić stopped the ball, adjusted his angle and then took a long shot with his right foot from outside the penalty area, but his shot was saved over the crossbar by Philipp Köhn who made a flying save. 10 minutes later, Luka Sučić dribbled the left side of the penalty area from the front and then shot with his left foot from a difficult angle, his shot was initially saved by Dominik Livaković who got down to the lower left corner, after Noah Okafor picked up the loose ball, he shot with his left foot from a difficult angle in a close range from the left of the penalty area, but his shot went just slightly wide as the ball hits the left side of the net.


In the 36th minute, Dinamo Zagreb got a free kick opportunity. Sadegh Moharrami took the free kick from outside the penalty area and crossed it into the penalty area. Ariyan Ademi rose high in the middle of the penalty area to head the ball, however his attempt flew high out of the pitch.


At the end of the first half of the game, the two sides temporarily reached a goalless draw and entered halftime.



Second Half


Both teams changed sides as the game continued. In the 53rd minute, Red Bull Salzburg got a free kick opportunity. Sučić took the free kick from outside the penalty area and took a long shot with his left foot, but his shot was confiscated by Livaković at the lower right corner. 2 minutes later, Red Bull Salzburg got a corner kick. Nicolas Seiwald took the corner and crossed it into the penalty area, Benjamin Šeško rose high in the middle of the penalty area and attempted a header, the ball hit Livaković's face and deflected off not far away. After picking up the loose ball, Okafor made a left-footed shot in the middle of the box, however his shot flew high out of the pitch.


In the 68th minute, Seiwald made an over-the-top pass near the center circle, Andreas Ulmer successfully beaten the offside trap, entered the penalty area and was pulled down maliciously by Moharrami, the referee immediately whistled and awarded Red Bull Salzburg a penalty, while also issued a yellow card to the latter as a warning. Noah Okafor's right-footed shot was converted successfully with Livaković even jumping to the wrong direction. Red Bull Salzburg finally broke the deadlock and took a 1-0 lead!


In the 81st minute, Ivanušec made an over-the-top pass from the left, Strahinja Pavlović's flying header clearance turned into an error, Josip Drmić successfully beaten the offside trap, quickly followed up and dribbled into the left side of the penalty area before shooting with his right foot, however his shot was saved by the outrushing Köhn.


In the first minute of stoppage time, Sučić made a horizontal pass from the front, Šeško quickly followed up, got the ball, took a few steps, before shooting with his left foot from the left side of the penalty area, however his shot was saved by Livaković at the the lower left corner.


3 minutes later, Martin Baturina crossed into the penalty area from the left, Josip Drmić quickly followed up and jumped high in the middle to head the goal successfully, but the linesman immediately raised the flag and accurately signaled that the latter was offside first. As such the goal was ruled invalid, Dinamo Zagreb missed the golden opportunity to draw their opponents!


In the end, the whole game ended with defending Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg defeating Dinamo Zagreb 1-0.