Red Bull Salzburg went top of Group H at the FIFA Club World Cup after they defeated Pachuca 2-1 in a weather-impacted game at TQL Stadium.
2025 Club World Cup
1-2
Match Report
It was Pachuca who had the first effort of note on 10 minutes, as Christian Zawieschitzky batted away captain Salomóon Rondon’s effort from a narrow angle in the Salzburg goal. The 18-year-old debutant also repelled Elias Montiel shortly before his side enjoyed a period of dominance in the middle of the half, albeit without testing Carlos Moreno.
Rondon again came close to an opener on the half-hour mark, but Zawieschitzky brilliantly tipped the Venezuelan’s header onto the crossbar.
Some of the Mexican supporters in the stadium were on their feet five minutes later, yet Agustín Palavecino’s volley rippled the wrong side of the netting. Israeli international Oscar Gloukh had been testing the Pachuca defence, firing a shot over the bar on 40 minutes, shortly before shimmying past a defender on the edge of the box and curling a beautiful effort into the corner to give his side the lead at the break.
Zawieschitzky’s evening got even better six minutes after the restart when he thwarted Rondon one-on-one, but in truth, the striker made it far too easy for the Salzburg keeper.
Just 10 minutes after the restart, the game was delayed for an hour and a half due to inclement weather in the Cincinnati area, but almost immediately after the restart, Pachuca equalised in stunning fashion. Bryan Gonzalez whipped a free kick from the right corner of the penalty area into the near bottom corner, with the hitherto excellent Zawieschitzky caught cold, perhaps expecting a cross.
With the rain still falling, the goal gave Jaime Lozano’s men fresh impetus, and substitute John Kennedy was giving the Austrians’ defence food for thought.
However, it was an alteration made by Thomas Letsch that flipped the script back in Salzburg’s favour with a quarter of an hour remaining. Captain Mads Bidstrup made ground and floated a ball from the right that Karim Onisiwo nodded down into the bottom corner.
The Mexican side pushed hard for a second equalizer, yet it would not come, as it was ultimately Salzburg who took advantage of Real Madrid dropping points earlier in the day.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
42' GOAL! Pachuca 0-1 Salzburg (Oscar Gloukh)
54' The match is suspended due to the thunderstorm weather
55' Match will be resumed soon
56' GOAL! Pachuca 1-1 Salzburg (Bryan González)
76' GOAL! Pachuca 1-2 Salzburg (Karim Onisiwo)
Line-ups
Pachuca XI: S.Rondón, Luis Rodríguez, Kenedy, Eduardo Bauermann, Agustín Palavecino, Carlos Moreno, Pedro Pedraza, Bryan González, Federico Pereira, Alexéi Domínguez, Elías Montiel
Subs: Cabral, Avilés Hurtado, Javier Eduardo López, Víctor Guzmán, Sebastián Jurado, Sergio Barreto, Israel Luna, Illian Hernández, Carlos Sánchez, Santiago Homenchenko, Alonso Aceves, John Kennedy, Emi Rodríguez, Jorge Berlanga, Alán Bautista
Salzburg XI: Lainer, Jacob Rasmussen, Mads Bidstrup, Frans Krätzig, Dorgeles Nene, Petar Ratkov, Oscar Gloukh, Valentin Sulzbacher, Christian Zawieschitzky, Joane Gadou, Edmund Baidoo
Subs: Onisiwo, Yorbe Vertessen, Maurits Kjaergaard, Jonas Krumrey, Samson Baidoo, Mamady Diambou, Sota Kitano, Adam Daghim, Tim Trummer, Jannik Schuster, Soumaïla Diabaté, Salko Hamzic, John Mellberg, Enrique Aguilar