"LASK secures top-three with victory in Klagenfurt

Head coach Thomas Darazs almost trusted the same starting eleven as in the 5-0 victory over SK Rapid last time, with Philipp Ziereis returning as captain after serving his suspension. Although the Carinthians proved to be the expected tough opponents at the beginning, LASK recorded the first noteworthy scoring opportunity. After a cross from George Bello on the left side, a Carinthian successfully blocked Florian Flecker's shot, and Moses Usor sent the subsequent second attempt over the goal.

As expected, LASK dominated possession, but repeatedly faced dangerous counterattacks from Klagenfurt. Twice, the woodwork came to the rescue for the athletes: first, with a header hitting the crossbar by Nicolas Wimmer (14th minute), then in the 32nd minute with a shot hitting the post by Sinan Karweina. In between, Linz had reason to celebrate: Sascha Horvath won the ball in the opponent's half, Usor found Marin Ljubicic ready to shoot in the center, who netted with his left foot to make it 1-0 (21st minute). The attacker's tenth goal of the season.

While Philipp Ziereis had another chance with a header just before halftime, Ljubicic struck again just a few seconds after the restart. A perfect pass from Horvath was converted by the 22-year-old with his right foot after a short reception in the 47th minute, making it 2-0 for the Black and Whites. This meant that the Croatian had scored no fewer than seven goals in the past five rounds.

After that, there were no major incidents, as LASK played very confidently, hardly allowing any opportunities for the hosts and cleverly maintaining their two-goal lead. In the final stages, captain Robert Zulj made his comeback after several weeks out due to injury and made his first appearance since March 9th against Salzburg.

With the victory, the athletes extended their unbeaten streak against Austria Klagenfurt to 21 matches. At the same time, they secured a place in the top three with their fourth win in the last five rounds, ensuring their presence in international competition next season. In the season's finale, the Upper Austrians will play their home game next Sunday against SK Sturm (secure tickets) and the away match on the 32nd matchday against RB Salzburg.

SK Austria Klagenfurt – LASK 0:2 (0:1)
28 Black Arena, 3490, SR Kijas
Goals: 0:1 Ljubicic (21.), 0:2 Ljubicic (47.)
Yellow cards: Karweina (7.), Coach Pacult (39.), Owusu (51.); Stojkovic (60.), Horvath (62.)

Line-up LASK: Lawal – Stojkovic, Ziereis (K), Andrade, Bello (86. Ba) – Berisha (79. Talovierov), Horvath, Taoui (64. Pintor) – Usor (86. Copado), Ljubicic (86. Zulj), Flecker