UEFA Europa League: Despite being outnumbered: LASK achieves EL’s first win

On Thursday evening Linz ASK hosted Bulgarian champion Ludogorez Rasgrad in the Europa League at the Gugl. LASK did not have a great time with a 4: 3 (3: 1) home win, but they did claim their first international win of the season.

Linz’s team got off to a furious start to an entertaining game: Marko Raguz landed a brilliant pass into the depths, which found a buyer in Hussein Balic. This led LASK to the lead with a deep low shot into the far corner (second).

Only a little later, the “athletes” in the person of Gruber did the same: Gernot Trauner missed a flat corner of Michorl and the summer newcomer from Upper Austria kept quiet at the end (11th).

However, the Bulgarians were also able to speak. Ex-Altacher Tekpetey won a duel with Trauner. So Elvis Manu, who broke into the Straufraum, got the ball, took advantage of the gap in the defensive chain and left Alex Schlager with no chances (15th).

Before the break, the almost 1,000 spectators at the Linz Stadium were able to see their team’s third trick. The forward Andrés Andrade looked for and found Raguz on the wing, who hit with a “side pull” (34º).

Those from Upper Austria did not give up and also scored 4: 1: Again Balic was significantly involved, his shot was deflected by Olivier Verdon unsustainable for goalkeeper Iliev (55th).

Ludogorez counterattacked with an unexpected double blow: Manu ran alone towards Schlager and scored his second goal (67), but was soon on the scorers list for the third time with a penalty (73). Lukas Grgic thwarted a 100 percent chance for the Bulgarians with his hand, for which he was sent off the field with red.

One hour of peak performance plus 15 minutes of shaking was enough for LASK to score the first three points in the 2020/21 Europa League season. Tottenham’s surprising loss to Antwerp now places them in third place in Group J.