CELJE, Slovenia (Interstat) — Celje erased a two-goal deficit and drew 2-2 with Salzburg (Aut) on Thursday at Stadion Z’dežele, getting a 90th-minute equalizer from Armandas Kucys. Salzburg had built a 2-0 lead behind an early goal from Sota Kitano and a second from Jesper Lindstrom just after halftime. Celje answered through Blaz Kramer in the 50th minute and completed the comeback when Kucys scored in the 90th. The result kept both teams without a win in the competition, leaving Salzburg at 0-1-1 and Celje at 0-1-1 in competition play. Salzburg is now 1-2-2 across all competitions, while Celje is 1-1-2 overall. The match at Stadion Z’dežele in Celje featured four goals, four yellow cards and a series of substitutions.

Kitano gave Salzburg the lead in the ninth minute, and Lindstrom made it 2-0 in the 46th. Damir Redzic assisted both Salzburg goals and was shown a yellow card in the 35th minute. Salzburg’s two-goal cushion held until Kramer scored for Celje four minutes after Lindstrom’s goal. Svit Seslar and Yaya Dukuly each recorded an assist for Celje, and Kucys scored his late goal after entering as a substitute. Kucys’ goal came in the final minute of regulation and denied Salzburg a victory after it had led for most of the match. Kramer’s goal made the score 2-1, and Kucys’ goal made it 2-2. The match ended level at 2-2. Celje had trailed at halftime and then conceded again just after the break before starting its comeback.

The key performances included Kramer scoring after playing the full match for Celje, Kitano scoring in 65 minutes for Salzburg and Lindstrom scoring in 44 minutes for Salzburg. Seslar assisted in 90 minutes for Celje, Kucys scored in nine minutes for Celje, Redzic had two assists and a yellow card in 83 minutes for Salzburg, and Dukuly assisted in 30 minutes for Celje. The match included four yellow cards. Celje’s Tutyskinas was booked in the 32nd minute, Salzburg’s Redzic in the 35th, Celje’s Sirvys in the 43rd and Salzburg’s Mazurek in the 90th minute plus two. Salzburg made substitutions at the 46th minute with Vertessen and Tohumcu, and Kitano was substituted in the 65th. Celje made a substitution in the 60th with Tusha, two in the 81st with Verbic and Sirvys, and one in the 90th minute plus four with Kvesic. Redzic was substituted in the 83rd minute. The substitutions came as Celje pushed for an equalizer and Salzburg tried to protect its lead.

Celje’s late pressure produced the equalizer after Salzburg had protected its lead through much of the second half. Kucys’ goal capped a sequence in which Celje recovered from a slow start and a two-goal halftime deficit. Salzburg had opened the scoring early and doubled its advantage immediately after the break, but could not hold the lead. The draw extended the struggles for both sides in the competition, with each still seeking a first win. Celje had entered the match after a 0-0 draw at Maribor, a 3-0 loss to Omonia and a 1-0 home win over Aluminij. Salzburg had beaten Altach 3-0 at home, lost 4-0 to AC Milan, drawn 0-0 at Grazer AK and lost 2-1 at home to BW Linz in its recent run.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Celje 2, Salzburg (Aut) 0. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Celje with a 98.2 percent probability to win. Salzburg (Aut) had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.25. The total score of 4 went under the over/under line of 3.25.