LASK captain Zulj: “Salzburg was definitely not better”

LASK will mourn this missed opportunity: the athletes were superior for a long time in the Cup quarter-finals – only with the efficiency of the champions Linz could not keep up with the 2:3. For the fourth time in five seasons, Salzburg tore Linz from their cup title dreams. “Salzburg was definitely not better,” said LASK captain Robert Zulj, disappointed.

Without any teething problems, the athletes set a pace for the spring kick-off that Salzburg could not maintain. Coach Gerhard Struber had switched to a 3-4-3, whose weaknesses were revealed by the athletes. Nevertheless, Salzburg took the lead – with the first approach to the goal: With a free kick near the halfway line, the LASK defensive line was pushed back through two deceptive maneuvers, Maurits Kjaergaard’s cross was cleared by Philipp Ziereis in front of the legs of Lucas Gourna-Douath. The neo-defense chief shot under the crossbar to make it 1-0 (15th). Three minutes after the provocative goal celebration, the Frenchman was noticed again: as an involuntary preparer of the equalizer. His defensive action became an assist for Marin Ljubicic – 1:1 (18th).

At Salzburg there was little going on offensively, but standard situations were probably more often on the training plan during preparation. When Kjaergaard cornered, Gourna-Douath blocked goalkeeper Tobias Lawal, Fernando jumped over Maxim Talowjerow and scored with a header to make it 2-1 (28th).

“The goal was irregular”

The LASK players immediately protested. “The goal was irregular,” said coach Thomas Sageder after the final whistle. Gourna-Douath was offside for Fernando’s header, but the video referee did not consider it a penalty.

After the break, Fernando made it 3-1 (51st) with the first chance he had. The hit was a low blow from which LASK took a long time to recover. In the final offensive, ex-LASK goalkeeper Alexander Schlager made a save on his first guest appearance in Linz to prevent any tension from arising again after a shot from Robert Zulj (71′). Sascha Horvath’s 2:3 (94th) came too late.

Salzburg would have been manageable, which is why the black and white disappointment was great. “LASK played a good game, but we were more efficient,” said Salzburg coach Struber honestly. The athletes failed to make it to the semi-finals, but the world record attempt before kick-off was probably successful: 12,644 spectators did resuscitation training at the same time.

The voices for the game

Thomas Sageder (SHOT-Coach): “It was a cup battle, it got exciting again at the end. We did well in the first half. We played a good game. The standards were really bitter for us. Apart from the two chances, Salzburg has “We didn’t have a real shot on goal in the first half. The spectators saw that the team fought until the end. It’s a shame that we didn’t get more out of it. I think more would have been possible.”
Robert Zulj (SHOT-Captain): “We played a good first half. It was of course a very disjointed game, but Salzburg were by no means better. We then lost a lot of unnecessary balls in the midfield at the beginning of the second half. They then make something of it with their qualities But we didn’t give up and kept trying.”
Gerhard Struber (Salzburg coach): “We achieved our goal. We knew that the SHOT increased accordingly over the winter. This is a stable team. It was clear to us that this would not be easy. We actually had to be efficient. We didn’t always have an easy time of it in the first half because… SHOT was very handy. In the second half we really had momentum for 20 or 25 minutes, took command and got the game on our side. The SHOT played a good game, but we were a bit more efficient and struck at the right moment.”