LASK defeats top Turkish club Galatasaray

LASK started the opening match of the Nero Summer Series Upper Austria with two new signings. Melayro Bogarde played as the right-back in the 4-2-3-1 formation, and Hrvoje Smolcic formed the central defensive duo with Philipp Ziereis. The visitors from Turkey had a slight advantage in the early minutes but only managed one attempt by Sergio Oliveira, which Tobias Lawal saved. On the other side, Florian Flecker, after an ideal pass from Robert Zulj, was denied by keeper Günay Güvenc.

The Linz team showed great courage and creativity, especially in possession, consistently finding good solutions during the build-up to skillfully evade the opponent's pressing attempts and find open spaces. Zulj discovered such a space with a perfect diagonal ball towards George Bello, whose cross was unintentionally turned into the net by Galatasaray's Leo Dubois, giving LASK a 1-0 lead after 23 minutes! The rest of the first half continued to provide the spectators with a very entertaining and high-level game. The best opportunity for the visitors came from Lucas Torreira with a deflected shot hitting the outside post (38th minute).

Even after the halftime break, during which Linz made a double substitution—Kevin Lebersorger and Sascha Horvath replaced Bello and Zulj—the match remained highly entertaining. The Turkish record champions initially missed the equalizer when Michy Batshuayi headed over from close range, but Metehan Baltaci scored with a header from a free-kick cross (56th minute).

LASK quickly responded with another goal. Following a quadruple substitution, the newly introduced Lucas Copado scored the lead goal just seconds later. The 20-year-old capitalized on a perfect through ball from Marin Ljubicic to make it 2-1 (63rd minute). However, the visitors did not let this stand. A cross from goal-scorer Baltaci sailed over Lawal and into the net via the inside post, giving the 21-year-old his second goal after 71 minutes. In the final minutes, there were more substitutions, with Moses Usor being the only LASK player to play the entire match. Additionally, several young players like Enis Safin, Sammy Mohammad, and Brandon Pursall got the chance to prove themselves at a high level. Five minutes before the end, LASK fans had another reason to cheer: after a long throw-in, Moussa Kone scored the 3-2 winning goal.

LASK – Galatasaray Istanbul 3:2 (1:0)
Raiffeisen Arena, 9230, Referee Weinberger
Goals: 1:0 Dubois (23./ET.), 1:1 Baltaci (56.), 2:1 Copado (63.), 2:2 Baltaci (71.), 3:2 Kone (85.)

Line-up LASK: Lawal (77. Siebenhandl) – Bogarde (62. Mohammad), Ziereis (77. Stojkovic), Smolcic (62. Pursall), Bello (46. Lebersorger) – Jovicic (62. Safin), Berisha (62. Copado) – Flecker (77. Pintor), Zulj (46. Horvath), Usor – Ljubicic (77. Kone)