published: thursday 28 november 2013, 23.09cet ıf elfsborg 0-1 fc salzburg
marco meilinger's goal ensured his side held on to their 100% record, but even with 15 points they are not yet certain to finish top of group c.
marco meilinger scored the only goal at ıf elfsborg, but a fifth successive uefa europa league win was not enough to secure top spot in group c for fc salzburg.
the visitors were rewarded for their endeavour with a well-worked goal six minutes before the break, meilinger finishing off a fine move by stroking the ball into the net to open the scoring. salzburg now host second-placed esbjerg fb on the final matchday, knowing a point will be enough to win group c, and be guaranteed a home tie in the second leg of their round of 32 fixture.
the austrian bundesliga leaders rested key players for the trip to sweden, including influential captain jonatan soriano. regardless, roger schmidt's side dominated proceedings from the kick-off; meilinger stung the hands of kevin stuhr-ellegaard from distance after just five minutes, an effort which was followed almost immediately by martin hinteregger's header hitting the crossbar.
sadio mané passed up a superb chance to open the scoring after half an hour, but his shot was cleared off the line by jon jönsson before the senegalese midfielder fired the rebound into the side netting. however, meilinger's goal came soon afterwards to steady any nerves.
elfsborg were forced into a change of goalkeeper at the start of the second half, with abbas hassan taking up the position between the posts. klas ıngesson's team were much improved after the restart, and almost equalised when jönsson had a header cleared off the line by florian klein.
mané went close to doubling salzburg's lead, only to be denied by hassan's brilliant one-handed save, shortly before the visitors' norwegian forward håvard nielsen fired wide with the goal gaping.
