Karim Adeyemi: Nigeria prospect bags brace as RB Salzburg defeat Rapid Wien

Super-sub Karim Adeyemi was on target twice as RB Salzburg recorded a 3-0 away victory over Rapid Wien in Sunday’s Austrian Bundesliga outing.

The German youth international of Nigerian descent was brought on for Mergim Berisha in the 74th minute, and in the closing stages of the encounter, he turned in two goals for Jesse Marsch’s men.

Boasting of six consecutive wins in all competitions this season, the Red Bull travelled to the Allianz Stadium to face Dietmar Kuhbauer's men, who put eight past Wolfsberger AC last time out.

In the cagey first-half where chances were few, Andre Ramalho Silva put the visitors ahead in the 36th minute after firing past goalkeeper Richard Strebinger.

Ercan Kara almost levelled matters for the hosts three minutes later but Salzburg’s backline thwarted his goal-bound effort.

Rapid Wien’s ambition of coming back in the encounter suffered a massive blow as Maximilian Hofmann was given his marching order by referee Manuel Schuttengruber a minute after the restart following a foul on Patson Daka.

Needing more goals to consolidate their lead, manager Marsch threw Noah Okafor and Adeyemi into the fray. However, it was the latter who shone brightly with two well-taken goals in the closing minutes of the encounter.

The 19-year-old Germany youth international, who is eligible to play for the Super Eagles at senior level, now boasts of four goals in the Austrian elite division this term.

Zambia’s Daka, who got a treble in his last encounter, was in action from start to finish, while his compatriot Enock Mwepu was substituted for Nicolas Seiwald in the 90th minute.

Despite the massive away result, Salzburg boss claimed that was not his team’s "best performance".

“These were important three points and a really important victory for us, even if it was not our best performance,” he told the club website.

“We defended very well, the opponent was almost never dangerous. I would have been a lot happier if we had scored the second goal a little earlier, then we could all have relaxed a bit.

“But it wasn't easy either, we could only lose in the situation. We still have a lot of work to do, there are still eight games left. As soon as no one can intercept us, let us congratulate ourselves.”

With this result, Salzburg are at the summit of the playoffs log with 32 points from 24 outings - seven points ahead of closest challengers Rapid Wien.