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LASK win in the Europa League away from Royal Antwerp, who surprisingly beat group favorites Tottenham a week ago, 1-0. The starting position in Group J promises excitement for the second leg midway through the group stage.
LASK preserved its chances for the Europa Leauge knockout round with a 1-0 win at Royal Antwerp on Thursday. Johannes Eggestein, substitute for Marko Raguž, probably more seriously injured in the knee in the first half, scored the golden goal for Linz (55th), which ended up decimating a well-deserved fourth competitive suite win in a largely disorganized match.
The Belgians, who had stunned Tottenham (1-0) and had also won in Rasgrad, turned out quite harmless in the third game of the group stage. The promotion race in Group J is extremely exciting at halftime: championship leaders Antwerp LASK (second) and Tottenham (third) have six points each, with Rasgrad at last. There is now a three-week break in the Europa League before the second leg against Antwerp in Linz on November 26.
In Antwerp, LASK could count on recovered midfielder James Holland, in the middle of the storm Raguz took precedence over Eggestein compared to a 2-0 win against Sturm Graz on Sunday. Notable with the home team: only six substitute players sat on the bench.
A major LASK win with a disappointment
LASK was the clear leading team at first, but not shining in creating opportunities. After all, Andreas Gruber forced real goalkeeper Jean Butez to make a save (4th), a deflected shot by Philipp Wiesinger missed the goal (14th) and Raguž took aim after a cross from a few meters (20th). But it was particularly bitter that the young player of the ÖFB team had to be replaced by Eggestein before the break: Upper Austria, who had to be treated minutes before, had sprained his knee without any external influence, is probably threatened with a prolonged injury .
The best images of the Europa League night
Antwerp, when LASK formed on the 3-4-3 system, visibly stalked counter-chances, but generally didn’t get very far on the rare occasions or was stopped by the LASK defense around captain Gernot Trauner apparently without much effort. In a disorganized match, a good half hour passed before coach Ivan Leko’s squad scored its first goal through Birger Verstraete (33.), before the break, a harmless header from Dieumerci Mbokani came alongside the goal (44. ).
LASK leads with ten to make ends meet
After the break, Antwerp was at least the same in the opening minutes after the slight increase towards the end of the first half. The LASK kept calm and attacked. After Alexander Schlager threw it from a distance, the ball reached Eggestein through Reinhold Ranftl and Gruber, who brought down the playing team with his chest and fired it precisely at the short corner from a few meters.
However, there was no real response from the hosts. Not even later did the Netherlands have to leave the place prematurely with the traffic light card after the second yellow foul on Lior Refaelov (68th). Schlager was once asked for a cross and header in the confusion (65th), but Antwerp, which was overwhelmed in preparation for the game that night, could not develop any more opportunities.
On the LASK side, Eggestein tried a strong shot that missed (75th). Linz’s team finally played home victory with a secure defense, in injury time Mbokani missed Antwerp’s only significant chance with a lift above the arc.
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