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The "Red Bull" team from Salzburg played a heated match with Vilnius "Žalgiris," ending in a 1-1 draw against the bottom-ranked Graz "Sturm" in the tournament table.
The leaders of the Austrian championship, showing excellent form, took the lead in the 23rd minute when Jonathan Soriano, an academy graduate of "Barcelona," scored a goal. With seven goals, the Spaniard is the top scorer in the championship.
Although "Red Bull" had several opportunities to double their lead, they failed to do so and paid dearly after the break: a quick attack by "Sturm" ended in a goal from Roberto Beric from a few meters away.
Throughout the rest of the time, the visitors pressed their opponents, but once again failed to break their defense and settled for a draw.
"When you dominate, you need to win the match," said Salzburg's coach Roger Schmidt. "We missed the opportunity to solidify our lead both at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, and made unforgivable mistakes that gave them a chance to equalize."
It should be noted that on Thursday, "Red Bull" will host "Žalgiris" in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League knockout match. Despite this draw, Žalgiris' coach Marek Zuba should be concerned that their opponents are leading the national championship with 11 points and have scored 16 goals in just five matches, while conceding only five.
In second place is "Grodig" (10 points), followed by "Ried" (9 points). "Sturm" (3 points) is only in ninth place.
Graz "Sturm" 1 - 1 Salzburg's "Red Bull" 23' [0 - 1] J.Soriano 58' [1 - 1] R.Beric "Red Bull": P.Gulacsi; P.Ulmer, C.Scwengler, M.Hinteregger, Andre Ramalho; S.Ilsanker, K.Kampl, M.Meilinger; S.Mane, J.Soriano, Alan;
