LASK’s massively poor performance in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League playoffs saw Lingers draw 1-1 against St Johnstone of Scotland.
In the first round, LASK disappointed across the board. Youngster Jan Bowler has a good first chance after just a minute, but then LASK quickly falls. Chris Kane faced an icy cold after a stangle pass from the right (17th minute).
Shortly after, keeper Alexander Schlager saved his color from the second goal. He crosses an Alistair McCann shot from the edge of the box. For LASK, however, the bowler is dangerous. Xander Clarke hits his long distance shot hard over the box (42nd).
After the restart, the game continues in an equally painstaking manner from Linz’s point of view. Glenn Middleton frees Schlager before top chance (56th). After an hour, however, the equalizer: Thomas Goeringer goes dribbling and is put down by Jamie McCart, Mamoudou Karamoko recovers the penalty safely.
With a hit in the back, LASK gets the better and pushes for the edge. But he no longer falls as Keito Nakamura only hits the bar with his head (90th). So it is on the island with only 1:1 in the return leg.
Bolar poses danger, backlog creates uncertainty
LASK initially set the pace rapidly. In the first few seconds Hussain Bialik knocked with a quick advance into the opponent’s penalty area for the first time.
In the second minute, Jan Boller swung the ball over the goal from a corner on his LASK debut, with Scottish goalkeeper Xander Clarke barely stopping a goal on the line. The furious attack should then subside as quickly as it started.
Because with the first notable offensive, St Johnstone took the lead. After a length ball into the back of the Linz defence, Glenn Middleton passed in front of goal at striker Chris Kane, who made it 1–0 (17th). In the center, the triple chain of Upper Austrians left plenty of room for guests. The Scots suddenly acted comfortably as a result of the hit, nearly scoring a second goal in the 19th minute. However, LASK goalkeeper Alexander Schlager prevented a well-placed long-range shot from McCann with a noticeable stop.
The shock of the unexpected goal lingered in Lingers’ bones for a long time. Shortly before the break the hosts started more activity in the half of St Johnstone. Bowler brought the ball with considerable force to the gate in the 42nd minute from about 25 meters away, but failed to parade goalkeeper Clarke. Another graduation from Florian Flecker also brought nothing (44th).
After the break, the Scots were closer to the second goal than the “athletes” were to equalize initially. Booth got a free shot, but tried to miss on the right (48th) goal. A headball from Davidson after the free kick was too big but too central and eventually landed in the hands of goalkeeper Schlager (54th). In another push by Middleton, he only saw the LASK goalkeeper in front of him, but did not achieve a proper conclusion (56th).
Penalty draw, bad luck in stoppage time
For Upper Austria, Karamoko initially failed to process a high ball in a promising position (53rd). However, the striker equalized with a penalty in the 60th minute. This was preceded by a clear foul by Jamie McCart on Thomas Goeringer (59th). Karamoko used the 911 himself with a flat shot to the left corner. Keeper Clarke failed to stop the draw, despite guessing the corner correctly.
The Linz team pushed for the second goal in the closing stages. Callum Booth blocked a shot from substitute Marvin Potzman (78th). Substitute Keito Nakamura failed with a header on the bar in the 90th minute. Bowler found his mentor again in goalkeeper Clark (92nd). However, the winning target was not met as expected – and with it a tailwind for a second meeting next week. With the draw open, everything is open ahead of the second leg in Perth next Thursday.
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