Substitute Karim Onisiwo powered in a 76th-minute header to lift FC Red Bull Salzburg to a 2-1 victory over CF Pachuca on Wednesday night in a FIFA Club World Cup Group H clash in Cincinnati.
Oscar Gloukh’s 42nd-minute strike from beyond the penalty area opened the scoring for the Austrian side, which moved to the top of the group after Real Madrid and Al-Hilal drew their tournament opener earlier.
The match had an approximately 90-minute delay early in the second half due to severe weather. Moments after play restarted, Pachuca’s Bryan Gonzalez delivered a 56th-minute free-kick equalizer. The ball snuck in at the near post after looping over the defensive wall.
However, that was the only ball to get past 18-year-old Salzburg goalkeeper Christian Zawieschitzky, who was making his senior debut.
Onisiwo, one of three changes made by Salzburg manager Thomas Letsch at the restart after the delay, decided the match on what was easily Salzburg’s sharpest attack of the second half. The goal came against the run of play.
On the opening goal, Gloukh received Valentin Sulzbacher’s pass on the left side of the penalty area, cut the ball across lunging defender Pedro Pedraza to his right foot, then drove his strike beyond Carlos Moreno’s dive inside the far right post.
Before Gloukh’s opener, Zawieschitzky denied Pachuca’s Salomon Rondon twice and Elias Montiel to keep his side level.
Two minutes after the break, the Salzburg goalkeeper stood tall to thwart Alexei Dominguez at his near post, then kept his composure to stop Rondon again after the veteran Venezuelan reached Kenedy’s early cross.
Pachuca wound up with a 17-10 edge in total shots and a 6-5 advantage in shots on target. Zawieschitzky was credited with five saves.
Salzburg will oppose Al Hilal in Washington on Sunday, the same day Pachuca will face Real Madrid in Charlotte.
–Field Level Media
