1:2 – in the 94th minute, LASK received the knockout blow in Brussels

2023-10-26 21:41:00

How bitter is that! LASK showed a mature performance once morest Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League in Brussels for a long time, leading 1-0 until the 84th minute – and traveling home without a point at 1-2. “The disappointment is huge,” said coach Thomas Sageder. “We definitely deserved a point.”

In the 94th minute, Christian Burgess scored the winning goal for the Belgian league leaders. The Englishman Thomas Goiginger escaped from Cameron Puertas’ free kick and won the header duel with Felix Luckeneder.

LASK deprived itself of the reward for all the legwork. In the end, a strong first half wasn’t enough to qualify for the Europa League. Because the athletes continued where they left off on Saturday in the 1-0 win in Salzburg in the Bundesliga: with aggressive pressing, they disrupted the opponent’s development, played straight forward and earned the opening goal from Moses Usor: Sascha Horvath won the ball, Ivan Ljubic shifted the attack to the right side with a pass to Filip Stojkovic. On his cross, the Belgians concentrated on Marin Ljubicic and Robert Zulj – but it flew over both of them straight to Usor, who volleyed to make it 1-0 transformed (24th). The tour quieted the constant chanting of the Saint-Gilloise fans in the Lotto Arena. The 250 LASK supporters who traveled with us made their voices heard.

Moses Usor gave LASK the lead.
Image: LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ (APA/AFP/BELGA/LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ)

Marin Ljubicic made it 2-0 in stoppage time in the first half. After the break, Saint-Gilloise’s pressure increased. LASK hardly managed to relieve the pressure, but didn’t allow any great chances either – until the 84th minute: Felix Luckeneder brought down Loic Lapoussin on the edge of the penalty area, the LASK defender, who was making his comeback following a month-long injury break, knew immediately that his attack would have consequences. Cameron Puertas converted the penalty to make it 1-1.

Lost points once more

It got louder once more in the Lotto Arena – and deafeningly loud in the 94th minute. The athletes arrived too late once morest Burgess – just as the journey to Brussels had begun. Because the charter plane was delayed, the athletes had to move the final training planned in Brussels to Pasching and took off for Belgium hours later than planned.
In the sporting “crash landing” in Brussels, LASK lost well-deserved points, as they did in Toulouse (1-0). Now they need a win in the “second leg” once morest Saint-Gilloise on November 9th in the Raiffeisen Arena in order to maintain their chance of promotion.