Despite Falling Behind

Derby! LASK vs. SV Ried—LIVE starting at 7:30 p.m.

Celebrations at LASK after a great start to the season.(Bild: GEPA)

Things continue to run like clockwork for LASK in the new season. The double champion came back from an early 0-1 deficit to decisively win the Upper Austrian derby against SV Ried 4-1 (3-1) on Friday in the season opener, securing their third straight victory in the Austrian Bundesliga. 

This result also gave Coach Dietmar Kühbauer’s squad a major confidence boost ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League playoff first leg against Scottish champions Celtic Glasgow.

After the official send-off for former LASK forward Sasa Kalajdzic, the 14,507 spectators at the Raiffeisen Arena first witnessed a surprise goal by the Innviertel side, scored by Pape Sissoko (8th minute). After that, the match went downhill for Ried goalkeeper Andreas Leitner, who was beaten four times. Samuel Adeniran shone as a two-goal scorer (10th, 27th), Moses Usor (17th minute) and “super sub” Christoph Lang (57th minute) also got on the scoresheet. A downer for the Linz side was a fully justified red card for Robert Ljubicic (74th minute, foul).

(Bild: GEPA)

Early Goal Serves as a Wake-Up Call for LASK
The Ried team went into the match focused on tightening up their defense but were still able to make an early impact up front. Sissoko slid in to deflect what appeared to be a shot by Stefan Schwab, making it 1-0. Melayro Bogarde had set up the play with a misplaced pass. However, all of this seemingly served as a wake-up call for the Linz team, who struck back impressively almost immediately.

After a pass from Usor, Adeniran fired a left-footed shot into the far corner. It didn’t take long for them to take the lead either. After a long pass from Andrade over the defense, the Ried players were caught napping, and Usor scored with a lob.

(Bild: GEPA)

Ried’s defensive play was also lacking on the third goal. Adeniran was able to control the ball on his left foot following a setup by Bogarde and finished it off delicately into the far corner. Leitner made a last-ditch save to prevent a fourth goal on a shot by Usor (45’+2). Lang sealed the deal, finishing off a textbook counterattack after several passes with Usor. Alessandro Schöpf narrowly missed the goal shortly afterward (59').

(Bild: GEPA)

Apart from the opening phase, Ried showed no offensive threat. Not even during the closing stages when they had a man advantage. Ljubicic had been sent off in the 74th minute after a reckless tackle from behind on Jonas Mayer.

For Linz, this was their third league win, following a 3–0 victory over GAK and a 2–0 win at Wiener Austria. Ried, under coach Mario Despotovic, remains winless in the league after a 1–1 draw at Lustenau and a 1–2 loss to Ried.

(Bild: GEPA)

LASK – SV Ried Final Score 4–1 (3–1)
Linz, Raiffeisen Arena, 14,507 spectators, Referee Sadikovski.

Goals: 
0–1 (8) Sissoko
1–1 (10') Adeniran
2:1 (17.) Usor
3:1 (27.) Adeniran
4:1 (57.) Lang

LASK: Jungwirth – Jörgensen (83. Kane), Mbuyamba, Tornich, Andrade, Bello – R. Ljubicic, Bogarde (63. Flecker), Horvath (46. Schöpf) – Usor (63' Danek), Adeniran (55' Lang)

Ried: Leitner – Malicsek, Radonjic (85' Lund Jensen), Chukwudi, Steurer, Sorg (79' Kusanovic) – Maart, Schwab (65' Rasner), Aisowieren (65' Boguo) – Bajic, Sissoko (65. Mayer)

Red card: R . Ljubicic (74'/foul)

Yellow cards: None / Malicsek, Chukwudi, Boguo