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Soccer-Salzburg win another Austrian title to maintain dominance

VIENNA, May 24 (Reuters) - Salzburg continued their recent dominance of the Austrian Bundesliga by beating Wolfsberger 3-0 at home on Sunday to wrap up their third title in the last four seasons. Marcel Sabitzer and Andre Ramalho scored in the first 15 minutes to set Salzburg on their way and the league's leading scorer Jonathan Soriano added another early in the second half, the Spaniard's 31st goal of the season. It was Salzburg's sixth title in nine seasons since the club was taken over by energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull in 2005. Despite the team's success, Red Bull's takeover has been far from popular and only 18,000 people watched Sunday's game in the 31,000-capacity Red Bull arena. By changing the team colours, attempting to alter the team's official formation date and removing the word "Austria" from the club name, Red Bull alienated the fans to such an extent that some of them formed a breakaway club. The new team, playing in the traditional violet shirts and with the original name Austria Salzburg, currently top their group in the third tier and are set to be promoted to the second division next season. Salzburg, who have failed in seven attempts to qualify for the Champions League group stage under Red Bull's ownership, will enter the competition in the third qualifying round next season. Sunday's win left them with 72 points, eleven ahead of Rapid Vienna who have two games to play and have made sure of second place, which also earns a place in the Champions League qualifiers. Rapid, who have a record 32 titles, were held 0-0 at home by bottom club Wiener Neustadt. (Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; editing by Toby Davis)