After three years of being a substitute and loans to Gent and Granada, Kamil Piątkowski finally got a chance at Red Bull Salzburg in the least expected moment. The Polish central defender has an undisputed position in the starting eleven of the Austrian club this season and in the vast majority of matches he plays from the first to the last minute. Thanks to this, he returned to the Polish national team, where he had a very successful performance against Croatia in October (3:3).
Piątkowski was supposed to rest. A teammate picked him up from the bench
Today (November 2, 2024), the team from Salzburg hosted Grazer AK, last in the table. The hosts may not be in the same shape this season as they were during many years of dominating the league (17 points in nine games). However, with a team that had not yet won a match in the league (5 draws, 6 defeats), they were a sure favorite, and coach Pepijn Lijnders decided to give the Pole a little rest and in his place, he included only 17-year-old Joane Gadou in the starting lineup.
Great performance by the Pole! The rivals couldn't believe it
However, this decision did not turn out to be the best. Just before the break, in the 45th minute, the young Frenchman was sent off with a red card for a brutal foul. This forced coach Lijnders to let Piątkowski onto the pitch. He did not regret the decision, because the Pole made a great performance, which was sealed with an intervention in the 83rd minute, when he saved the team twice by clearing the ball from the goal line after shots by Jacob Italiano. The amazingness of this intervention is well reflected in the comment on the Grazer AK account on the X website. “What was that?! Zaizen passes the goalkeeper and shoots from a sharp angle, and then one of Salzburg's defenders heads away Italiano's follow-up,” we read.
Piątkowski's efforts allowed Salzburg to keep a clean sheet but not win the match. His colleagues from the attack line did not adapt to the Pole's level. The hosts had only three shots on target, achieving expected goals of only 0.59. It is true that Karim Konate scored in the added time, but the referee whistled for an offside, which was confirmed by VAR a moment later. Thus, Red Bull Salzburg only drew 0-0 with Grazer AK and is currently in third place in the league, eight points behind the leader Strum Graz, which, however, has played two fewer matches.