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It was a great victory for LASK in a direct duel with a rival for promotion in Group J. After matchday three, three teams are on par at the top: Tottenham, Antwerp and LASK have six points each, Ludogorez Rasgrad follows standing without counter.
Only the top two go up, LASK has good cards and two more home games (against Antwerp and Tottenham) after their 1-0 win in Antwerp. It goes without saying that coach Dominik Thalhammer is pleased with the way his team has gone. This does not just apply to gold striker Johannes Eggestein (55th), who came into play in place of the woeful Marko Raguz.
“It was stressful and overall a well deserved victory. We did it with discipline. We had very well controlled Antwerp long balls. Then we kept the opponent away from our goal with one man less. We don’t allow anything, ”said Thalhammer, referring to the exclusion of midfielder James Holland (yellow / red / 68th). The black and white had more shots (13: 7) and never let the strong champions of the Belgian cup develop.
After the international break, the next match against Antwerp at the Gugl will continue on November 26. Thalhammer had given four points from these two matches as a wish, now it could even be six. “If we can build on that in terms of home game performance, we will achieve our goal and be represented in the Europa League in the spring,” said the confident coach.
Eggestein received special praise in the PULS 4 interview: “We have options on offense. Jojo did an excellent job with his quality, ”Thalhammer said of the new addition. The SV Werder Bremen loaned forward was modest after his coup. “It’s going really well at the moment, we’ve had a winning streak since the Tottenham game (0-3, note),” said the 22-year-old, delighted with the fourth complete success in suite.
“I am very happy that I was able to get the next three. We played the goal very well. I ran to the second post and took off. Andi (Gruber, note) saw it great and passed the ball to me. You have to win games like this to have a chance of advancing in the Europa League. That speaks to our current maturity. “
Midfielder Peter Michorl was also relieved: “In the first 25 minutes we did relatively well, we had scoring chances that we didn’t finish or we missed. So it was a fight pressing against pressing. We were one man less from minute 68, but we fought to the end and defended everything except the last chance, ”said the 25-year-old.
“The mentality was decisive. It is a tremendously exciting group. Now we have a small advantage in the direct duel with Antwerp. But we know that we need that kind of performance, that kind of mentality again at home. Because if we don’t achieve anything at home, So yes, the victory was not worth much today, “explained Michorl.
Hopefully Raguz’s injury won’t turn out as dramatic, Thalhammer didn’t want to use the word ‘cruciate ligament tear’: ‘There will be an MRI on Friday. He looked bad, he’s in pain. I hope it’s not what it seems. “
See image gallery
Photo Gallery: LASK wins in Antwerp: Impressions from the match
Image: Reuters
