In his first home game as Lask coach, Marcus Schaub gave Marco Sulzner confidence from the start. A graduate of the Academy of Athletes, the 21-year-old celebrated eleven Bundesliga debuts;
After feeling each other out in the opening minutes, Linz looked dangerous for the first time after a corner in their first Bundesliga clash with GAK since 2001. Robert Julj found Harvoje Smolczyk who was free to head the ball, who put the ball next to the goal (13th). A few minutes later, Valon Berisha scored a great goal: connecting with Zulj and after taking a short hook, scored 1-0 for the black and whites – his first league goal for LASK!
The lead gave further impetus to the home side, who were better and better in control of the match. Sometimes it is possible to run the ball well, but not without neglecting to attack the end zone. It was rewarded with a second goal: George Bello was brought down after a cross towards the second post, and after a field review, referee Julian Weinberger pointed to the penalty spot. Marin Lubicic calmly converted the penalty to make it 2-0 – Croatia’s third goal of the season. The promoted side from Cross showed their danger yet again and reduced the score to 1:2 after half an hour, with Romeo Vucic’s unfortunate deflected shot.
After the break, the Styrians finally managed to get back into the game and equalize Linz’s lead. After a cross from the left, Berisha tried to save and the ball bounced over the line – and after 50 minutes it was all open again. Head coach Schoep made three substitutions, bringing on Filip Stojkovic, Maksim Talovirov and Adil Doui. It was to pay off, and after Smolczyk’s crucial diagonal ball, Stojković served up the middle to Ljubicic, who converted to make it 3-2. The celebration was postponed until after the assistant’s flag was raised, as the VAR check did not confirm the initially recognized offside position – LASK were back in the lead (63′).
Immediately, Maximilian Entrup replaced captain Sulz to celebrate his competitive debut in the Upper Austria jersey. He immediately provided his first assist in stoppage time: after sending an excellent cross to Taoui, he made the final score 4-2, meaning that LASK could celebrate their second win of the season.
LASK – GAK 4:2 (2:1)
Raiffeisen Arena, 13,000, SR Weinberger
Tor: 1:0 Berisha (14.), 2:0 Lubicic (22./E.), 2:1 Vucic (30.), 2:2 Berisha (50./ET.), 3:2 Lubicic (63.) , 4:2 Taoui (95.)
Yellow Cards: Jovicic, Toui, Bello, Talovirov
This is what Lask played: Siebenhandl – Bogarde (56. Stojkovic), Ziereis, Smolcic, Bello – Sulzner (56. Talovierov), Jovicic – Usor, Zulj (K/65. Entrup), Berisha (56. Taoui) – Ljubicic (80. Renner)