Before the last round of the basic round, LASK is three points behind sixth Rapid and seventh Ried, if both lose their games and LASK wins at WAC, a three-way table would come into play – LASK would lose out.
In front of 4,845 spectators, the hosts had advantages against Salzburg, which had been shaken after their CoV cluster. You weakened yourself again with a yellow-red card. This time Rene Renner was the man who unnecessarily fouled in midfield (51st). In the finish, Peter Michorl and Sascha Horvath missed chances for the necessary LASK victory, but on the other hand, substitute Maurits Kjaergaard also missed a Salzburg match point.
LASK missed master group
The championship group of the Bundesliga takes place for the first time without LASK. A 0-0 draw against champions and table leaders Red Bull Salzburg was not enough for the people of Linz on Wednesday in the supplementary game of the 21st round, LASK can no longer make it into the top six.
At Salzburg, a large part of the squad reported fit again before the duel with Linz, which was also important news with regard to the second leg in the Champions League round of 16 at Bayern Munich on Tuesday. The returnees made the starting XI look similar to the last-minute 2-0 win against WAC on February 20th. Only captain Andreas Ulmer was missing on the left in defense and was replaced by Daouda Guindo, and Mamady Diambou acted in midfield instead of Mohamed Camara. Maximilian Wöber, who was also missing against Wolfsberger, was not yet fit enough to play.
LASK has more of the game, Solet is injured
After a minute’s silence for the victims of the Ukraine war, it was the people of Linz who played better in temperatures around freezing. The ball went well in the ranks of the home team, who repeatedly came dangerously towards the Salzburg penalty area, but rarely made the last pass there. After the coronavirus turbulence, Salzburg were unsurprisingly far from their top form, lost the balls far too easily and didn’t win enough second balls either. It also didn’t help that central defender Oumar Solet was eliminated early in the 23rd minute with a suspected thigh muscle injury.
The guests still found the first top chance in the game. Karim Adeyemi ran alone to Alexander Schlager after an Adamu hole pass, but put the ball wide of the goal from the edge of the penalty area (32′). A lead would have been flattering, but Linzer, who twice threatened before the break, deserved it. Thomas Goiginger unselfishly played to Florian Flecker, who incomprehensibly let the ball through at first and then didn’t finish properly (40′). Immediately afterwards, Salzburg goalie Philipp Köhn had to fish a Goiginger long-range shot out of the corner, which is worth seeing (41′).
Unnecessary exclusion slows down Linzer
Linz carried the momentum into the second half and became dangerous with a Balic header (47′), but then weakened themselves. Renner had to leave the field prematurely after repeated foul play. That made things a little easier for Salzburg, but Adeyemi again lacked the coolness in the end, he shot over from five (54th). Despite being outnumbered, the people of Linz were under pressure, so they continued to look for the way forward, but the winning goal that would have kept the chance of the champions group alive did not materialize because a Michorl shot went over it (90th) and Köhn with one Horvath-Chance awarded (91st). In added time, Salzburg’s Nicolas Capaldo was well served with a yellow card after a foul on Michorl, after which Kjaergaard narrowly missed.
After all, LASK was able to get countable against Salzburg for the first time after seven defeats in a direct duel in the league. Before the division of points and during the Bayern dress rehearsal on Saturday, Salzburg still have to deal with Altach at the bottom.
Comments on the game:
Andrew Wieland (LASK trainer): “If the circumstances were different, we would sit there and say: ‘We saw an excellent performance, the result is okay too.’ I think we saw one of our best performances of the season with a very clear play off the ball, winning the ball and scoring chances that resulted. Even outnumbered, there was a lot of mentality and will to leave the three points in Pasching. Unfortunately we didn’t succeed. The bottom line is that we won’t make it into the championship group anymore, so that’s disappointing. Now it is important to finish the basic round positively and to set new goals for the next tasks.”
Matthias Jaissle (Salzburg coach): “It was exactly the game we expected. LASK had to win, threw everything in, played a good game here at home, where it’s always uncomfortable. That’s why we can live with the point today, considering the preparation, which was very special for us. It was a cold start for many, we didn’t have a team training session again until Monday. But we don’t want to lament. We played the game, wanted to get the best out of it and I think you could see that one or the other player didn’t get to 100 percent.”
Admiral Bundesliga, 21st round, addendum
Wednesday:
LASK – Salzburg 0-0
Pasching, Raiffeisen Arena, 4,845 spectators, SR Spurny
LASK: Schlager – Potzmann, Boller, Wiesinger, Renner – Holland, Jovicic (46./Michorl) – Flecker, Horvath, Goiginger (84./Gruber) – Balic (75./Schmidt)
Salzburg: Köhn – Kristensen, Piatkowski, Solet (23./Van der Brempt), Guindo – Capaldo, Diambou (46./N. Seiwald), Aaronson, Bernede (46./Kjaergaard) – Adamu (85./Forson), Adeyemi ( 78./Tijani)
Yellow-red card: Renner (50th/foul)
Yellow cards: Flecker or Kjaergaard, Capaldo, Tijani
The best: Holland, Horvath, Boller or Köhn, Kristensen