Historic defeat

LASK vs SK Rapid Vienna – LIVE from 14:30

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

LASK consolidated third place in the Bundesliga with a 5:0 (3:0) victory over Rapid, shaking off their rivals in the process. The team from Linz made everything clear in the 29th round on Sunday with three goals before half-time and are now eight points ahead of the Viennese ahead of the last three rounds. Grün-Weiß slipped to fifth place and experienced a completely unsuccessful dress rehearsal for the cup final against Sturm Graz on Wednesday. For Linz, it was also the highest win in the duel since 1998. 

Marin Ljubicic (31st/manual penalty, 60th), Florian Flecker (36th), Adil Taoui (38th) and Sascha Horvath (56th) scored the highest LASK victory against Rapid since March 29, 1998 (5:0 in Linz) in front of 17,000 in the stadium. The Upper Austrians claimed their third win in the fourth game under interim coach Thomas Darazs. The lead over fourth-placed Hartberg is six points.

Rapid broke their negative record in the Bundesliga era since 1974. The Hütteldorfer have never lost by more than five goals. An improvised starting eleven before the cup final resulted in the third defeat in a row. In April, Robert Klauß's team remained winless in five games and were in danger of missing out on the international starting places via the league.

After the unsuccessful three-man backline experiment against Sturm, Klauß once again fielded a four-man backline with a change in personnel. Michael Sollbauer defended alongside Leopold Querfeld, who was replaced at the break. At LASK, Maxim Talowjerow moved into central defense for the suspended Philipp Ziereis. 

A number of attacking celebrities were still on the bench for both teams. Robert Zulj was back in the LASK squad, while Rapid's Guido Burgstaller, Matthias Seidl and Christoph Lang, who replaced the injured Ismail Seydi (suspected torn collateral ligament) early on, initially only watched on.

In a quiet start, neither team created a clear goalscoring opportunity. A stopping error by LASK goalkeeper Tobias Lawal after a harmless back pass almost ended badly (17'). The ensuing corner started a series that came to nothing.

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However, a penalty after VAR intervention broke all the dams. The Linzers combined well for the first time down the right flank, Flecker first hit the bar, then Rapid midfielder Roman Kerschbaum fended Taoui's follow-up shot over the goal with his outstretched arm. Referee Christopher Jäger examined the scene on the screen and awarded a penalty, which Ljubicic safely converted (31').

Rapid tried to counter the goal they had conceded, but it backfired. Andres Andrade danced through the midfield and showed a good eye for Flecker, who kept his cool alone in front of Hedl (36'). Flecker again had a hand in making it 3:0. After his cross, Taoui converted his own follow-up shot (38'). Rapid needed another stroke of luck before the break. Kerschbaum almost bent a cross into his own goal (45.+2).

LASK controlled the game at will after the break. A long-range shot from Horvath was deflected by Kerschbaum to make it 4:0 (56'). Shortly afterwards, Taoui found Ljubicic with the Stangl pass, who pushed the ball over the line for his ninth goal of the season (60'). The rest was an exhibition game with a number of players who had not had much practice recently being substituted. Felix Luckeneder came in for LASK, Thorsten Schick for Rapid and Burgstaller, who fired his team's first shot on goal in the 84th minute.

The final score:

LASK - SK Rapid 5:0 (3:0)
Linz, Raiffeisen Arena, 17,000, refereed by Jäger.

Goals: 1:0 (31.) Ljubicic (hand penalty), 2:0 (36.) Flecker, 3:0 (38.) Taoui, 4:0 (56.) Horvath, 5:0 (60.) Ljubicic

LASK: Lawal - Stojkovic, Talowjerow, Andrade, Bello (83. Ba) - Horvath (83. Haider), Berisha (65. Luckeneder) - Usor, Taoui (71. Pintor), Flecker - Ljubicic

Rapid: Hedl - Oswald (71. Schick), Querfeld (46. Kongolo), Sollbauer, Kasanwirjo - Sattlberger, Kerschbaum - Seydi (43. Lang), Kaygin (62. Seidl), Grüll - Mayulu (62. Burgstaller)

Yellow cards: Stojkovic or Kerschbaum, Sattlberger, Kasanwirjo, Lang