FC Red Bull Salzburg
The Red Bulls fell to SC Wiener Neustadt, 1-0, in their most recent match on a Pavel Kostal goal just after the half. Salzburg dominated possession and created chances but could not finish them in a chippy game that included a whopping 47 fouls.
FC Red Bull Salzburg is winless in 2011 since league play resumed after a two-month hiatus, having dropped one and drawing two matches in the month of February and falling back to fourth in the 10-team league. The top three teams have distanced themselves by five points as Salzburg falls into a four-team pack with 30-35 points.
Salzburg finds itself shorthanded due to a slew of injuries in recent weeks, with reserve defender Laci Bodnar being the latest, as he will be out eight weeks after suffering a thigh muscle tear in the Wiener Heustadt match. He joins starters David Mended da Silva, Christian Schwegler and Ibrahim Sekagya along with Douglas da Silva on the injured list.
The Red Bulls (9-5-8) will travel to KSV Superfund (6-10-5), which sits clearly in eighth place in the league table by seven points on either end, on March 2. KSV has lost its past two matches by identical 2-0 scores and has not won a match since early December.
Salzburg has not tallied a goal against KSV in the past three meetings and lost its only home match of this season against KSV. The Red Bulls may be without Head Coach Huub Stevens, who has been unable to lead training due to illness.
Red Bull Brasil
The Red Bulls defeated Pão de Açúcar 1-0 on a Nunes strike following his two-goal effort in his debut during the historic win over União Barbarense last two weeks ago.
Red Bull Brasil has won its past four matchups to rocket up the league table. The team has climbed into the distinct upper half and sits in fifth place, six points ahead of sixth, two shy of fifth and just five back from first-place Atlético Sorocaba. The Red Bulls sport the league’s best away record, having taken 12 points in six matches. The Red Bulls are fighting to break into the Top 4, with a promotion to Série A1 at stake.
RB Brasil (6-5-1) will challenge first-place Atlético Sorocaba (7-2-3) on March 4 in a faceoff between the league’s two hottest teams. Sorocaba has gone 3-0-2 in its past five matches.
RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig took a hit in its bid to close the gap between itself and the Top 3 in the German fourth division, Regionalliga Nord, in losing 2-1 to low-level FC Magdenburg (6-9-5). Daniel Frahn put the Red Bulls on the scoresheet early but it would not be enough.
RB Leipzig sits in fourth place, a full seven points out of second place and 16 out of first, which carries with it a promotion to the 3rd Bundesliga. The unexpected loss to FC Magdeburg comes on the heels of a whopping 3-0 defeat of Holstein Kiel (7-5-6) and sets RB Leipzig back in its hopes to advance one year after dominating the NOFV-Oberliga Süd last season.
Leipzig (10-4-6) will face two reserve clubs in the next week as it takes on Eintracht Braunschweig II (5-10-6), which stands just above the dreaded relegation zone, on March 2 and Hamburger SV II (9-7-3) on March 6.
Red Bull Ghana
The road has not been kind to the Red Bulls (2-3-2) this season, following a disappointing draw at last-place All Stars (0-5-2) with a 3-2 defeat at King Solomon (4-2-1) to worsen their road record to 0-2-2, with both draws coming against Zone 3B’s two last-place clubs.
The season is not quite lost, however, with the club sitting in fifth place with nine points. The Red Bulls are one point shy of fourth but are caught in a three-way tie for fifth, although they stand a clear six points ahead of the last-place All Stars. The Red Bulls have a goal difference of zero having scored a zone second-best nine goals but allowing nine as well, tied for the zone’s worst mark.
The Division One League is set to resume play on Mar 12, with seven more weeks of action on the slate. Schedules are yet to be released, but each team will play the other seven members of its respective zone once.
