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LASK are in the group stage of the Europa League for the second time in a row, dominating the standings with a 4-1 win over Sporting Lisbon.
Gernot Trauner (14th), Marko Raguz (58th), Peter Michorl with a dream free kick (65th) and Andreas Gruber (68th) were finished off by Dominik Thalhammer’s team in the play-off, which was only played in one game, in the Europa League. With it, the Upper Austria also got revenge for the appearance as guests in the Portuguese capital a year ago, that Sporting had won 2-1.
The group draw with LASK, Rapid Vienna and Wolfsberg will take place on Friday (1pm). Third in the league, Carinthians were firmly qualified for the group stage.
LASK early tour
The Linz athletes had the beginning of their dreams in the empty José Alvalade Stadium. Again from a standard situation. Michorl crossed the corner into the penalty area, Trauner nodded under pressure in the second bar – 1-0 (14th).
The Portuguese made their way into the game slowly, struggling for a long time under pressure from the Upper Austrians. In the 27th minute, Luciano Vietto, who had actually started from offside, missed LASK goalkeeper Alexander Schlager, Nuno Santos played the cross pass into the void in the 39th minute.
But in the 42nd minute Sporting tied. A Santos center pushed Tiago Tomas from close range to equalize 1: 1 over the line, after guard Philipp Wiesinger had escaped earlier.
Goals after the break
Stahlstädter’s response, however, followed a swift counterattack after the restart. Pedro Porro miscalculated a cross from Reinhold Ranftl, so Raguz concluded, hitting the ball into the net for a renewed lead – 2: 1 (58).
Only seven minutes later Michorl made it all clear with a free kick from 18 meters, making it 3-1 (65th). Hussein Balic had been fouled by Sporting captain Sebastian Coates just outside the penalty area and saw a heavy red card for stealing a goal. Through Schupfer, Gruber made it 4-1 in the 68th minute.
Nothing else came from the decimated Portuguese. Sporting had reached an agreement with Eruopacup from the beginning and tried to limit the damage. The Linzers were able to retain their strength from the start.
