Late Kucys goal earns Celje 2-2 draw with RB Salzburg
Celje came from two goals down to draw with RB Salzburg in the Europa League, Armandas Kucys equalising in the 90th minute at Stadion Z'dežele.
By Harvey Watkins,
Celje came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with RB Salzburg at Stadion Z'dežele on Thursday evening. Armandas Kucys scored the equaliser in the 90th minute of their Europa League Matchday 3 meeting. For most of the night RB Salzburg looked set to take all three points. Instead the points were shared.
An early lead for the visitors
RB Salzburg scored first, and quickly. Sota Kitano put them ahead in the ninth minute, and they held that lead for the rest of the first half. Celje did not find a reply before the interval, so the half-time score stood at 1-0 to the away side.
Two goals in four minutes
The game turned on a short burst at the start of the second half. Jesper Lindström doubled RB Salzburg's advantage in the 46th minute. A goal like that usually shapes the rest of a match. At 2-0 so soon after the restart, the visitors had a cushion and almost a full half to protect it.
The cushion lasted four minutes. Blaz Kramer pulled one back for Celje in the 50th minute, and the speed of that reply is central to reading this match. RB Salzburg's second goal settled nothing. Within moments the gap was one again, and the home side had a way back into the game.
Kucys levels at the last
What followed was a long wait. Forty minutes passed between Kramer's goal and the equaliser, with RB Salzburg holding a narrow lead throughout. Then, in the 90th minute, Kucys scored to make it 2-2, and that was how it finished.
For Celje, the point came from refusing to let the match go. They trailed for 81 minutes and still scored twice after falling two behind. For RB Salzburg, the frustration is easy to locate. They led from the ninth minute until the 90th and were two clear at one stage. Sides generally expect to win from that position.
What the scoreline shows
It is worth being careful about how much a single result can carry. A 2-2 draw with goals at both ends of the match tells you about its shape. It does not tell you which side was better over 90 minutes. RB Salzburg struck early in each half, and Celje stayed in the contest long enough to be rewarded. The goals alone do not show how the play went in between.
Some things can be said with confidence. Both sides scored twice, and neither kept full control of the game. The decisive moments came at the edges: early in the first half, at the start of the second, and in the final minute of normal time.
The goals, in order:
- 9 min: Sota Kitano (RB Salzburg)
- 46 min: Jesper Lindström (RB Salzburg)
- 50 min: Blaz Kramer (Celje)
- 90 min: Armandas Kucys (Celje)
A draw from 2-0 down will feel very different in each dressing room. On the scoresheet, though, it counts the same for both: one point each from Matchday 3.