The athletes finished the first game of the qualifying group of the Bundesliga WSG Tirol on Sunday in Pasching 6-0 (3-0) and thus immediately took the lead in the table, one point ahead of their Upper Austrian rivals SV Ried. Coach Andreas Wieland’s squad also boosted their self-confidence for the second leg against Slavia Prague.
Pasching. On Thursday in the second part of the Europa Conference League round of 16 against the Czech series champions in St. Pölten they have to make up for a deficit of 1:4. Keita Nakamura (9th), who replaced Thomas Goiginger in the starting XI, initiated the win early on in front of 4,000 fans, Florian Flecker added a brace in the first half (26th, 41st). After the restart Peter Michorl (52nd), who acted more offensively than before, and Alexander Schmidt (73rd) and again Nakamura (88th) also entered the list of shooters. Flecker also prepared two goals, making him the outstanding figure in the Raiffeisen Arena.
In contrast to the game in the Eden Arena three days ago, Linz were good in the game from the start, aggressive and had a lot of moves towards goal. Already in the 4th minute, Ferdinand Oswald was fully challenged by a Michorl shot. Five minutes later, Nakamura justified his set-up, hooking easily past Koch and scoring from 15 yards. Flecker had given the assist and was involved in all three goals in the first half. The 26-year-old Styrian made it 2-0 with his left after an ideal Michorl hole pass, before the 3-0 he fought for the ball in a duel with Maxime Awoudja and defeated Oswald with a shot into the far corner.
Immediately afterwards, Nakamura missed a great volley chance (42′) and Oswald was able to excel again with a Michorl finish (45′). WSG coach Thomas Silberberger was visibly upset, but his triple substitution at the break changed little in the game, even though Awoudja found the guests’ first chance with a header (48′). Goals continued to fall only on the other side. After nice Balic preparatory work, Michorl scored, Kofi Schulz was no longer able to clear the defeated Oswald decisively.
“Joker” Schmidt also put the ball into the net with a direct acceptance of the penalty after Flecker crossed. And after Schmidt’s preliminary work, Nakamura only had to complete the empty goal. The second win in the seventh competitive game in 2022 was therefore an impressive one. Linzer, who are now unbeaten in five league games at home, were able to win three season duels (including the round of 16 of the cup) after the 1-1 draw in Innsbruck.
It was also positive that Sascha Horvath made a comeback (from the 59th minute) after his illness. Philipp Wiesinger, who was substituted in Prague because of nausea, didn’t need a break at all and was part of the central defense from the start. As penultimate, the WSG has only four points left behind Altach at the bottom.
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