Compared to the appearance a week earlier in Hartberg (2:3), when his team conceded a goal in the opening minutes for the fourth time in a row, the coach changed his starting eleven in one position: Rico Benatelli had to be content with the reserve role, Christopher Wernitznig joined the team and took over the position on the right-hand side.
Wernitznig, captain Thorsten Mahrer, Nicolas Wimmer and Till Schumacher formed the defensive line in front of goalkeeper Phillip Menzel. Max Besuschkow, Christopher Cvetko and Andy Irving were preferred in midfield, while Solomon Bonnah, Jonas Arweiler and Sinan Karweina were allowed to play in attack from the start.
This time the Klagenfurt team were wide awake, accepted the duels and played courageously forward. The first opportunity arose in the third minute when Irving fed Schumacher, whose cross to Karweina was cleared by Philipp Ziereis at the last moment. Shortly afterwards, LASK also had their first top chance: a shot from Florian Flecker was blocked by Irving, Moses Usor aimed too high (10th).
A little later the bell almost rang in the Linz box: After a foul on Bonnah, Wernitznig brought the free kick into the middle, Wimmer (13th) prevailed in the aerial duel and headed the ball from four meters onto the crossbar. It was now going back and forth, Marin Ljubicic (16th) had gotten loose behind the Austria defense, but Menzel cleverly shortened the angle and prevented the impact.
In the 21st minute, however, the time had come: an error in the build-up to the game led to a moment of change, which LASK coldly exploited through Ljubicic to make it 0-1. A bitter blow in the neck for the Violets, who had started the game so well, but quickly came back after falling behind: Karweina (32nd) shot powerfully from the half-left position, but only hit the bar. Aluminum bad luck for the home team for the second time.
As soon as both teams were back on the field after the break, LASK made the preliminary decision. Sascha Horvath took the entire Carinthian defense out of the draw with a pass, Ljubicic (47th) pushed in unchallenged and scored his brace. Instead of pushing for an equalizer, the Waidmannsdorfers suddenly found themselves chasing two goals.
After 52 minutes, Pacult made the first personnel swap: Bonnah made room for Sky Schwarz, who took over the role on the right wing. Benatelli later replaced Cvetko in central midfield (66′) and defender Jannik Robatsch replaced Arweiler (82′), for whom Wimmer moved into the center of the attack.
The Klagenfurt team tried to increase the tempo and catch up, but the guests were compact in defense and hardly allowed anything to happen. But Austria also lacked the brilliant ideas and the necessary impact. After a combination via Schumacher and Karweina, Irving (67th) took a shot, but Tobias Lawal had no trouble. The biggest chance was missed by Besuschkow (77th), whose shot was blocked.
The next and last home game in the championship group of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga 2023/24 is scheduled for next Sunday (5 p.m.), with SK Rapid visiting the Wörthersee Stadium in the ninth round. Tickets for the match are available Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the office and around the clock in the online shop.