In any case, the record after the first half of the season is getting worse and worse from round to round. If there were five wins and one draw in the first six rounds, the following five days brought three draws and two defeats. The offensive in particular has stuttered recently, only four goals have been scored in the past five rounds. In the first half, a number of great opportunities were obscured against Hartberg. “We need to get the ball back in where it matters most. We have to work on that,” says Kühbauer.
Captain Alexander Schlager puzzled over the reasons for the drop in performance: “Maybe we’re getting too nervous because we’re missing the goal. We can’t really explain it. It’s clear that we could have decided it clearly in the first half,” said the keeper. “We can lead 4-0 or 5-0, don’t create chances, rod, latte. Today we just beat ourselves,” added Sascha Horvath.
Hartberg surprises at LASK
LASK has continued its negative series in the Bundesliga. The eleven of coach Dietmar Kühbauer surprisingly lost the home game in Pasching against Hartberg with 0:3.
The fact that the athletes collapsed after falling behind in the second half particularly annoyed the coach of Linz, who was still third. “All of a sudden it felt as if we had lost our power. I just don’t want us sticking our heads in the sand like last year when things don’t go well. That’s something I can tolerate the least,” explained Kühbauer.
Hartberg hits ice cold in Pasching
Unlike LASK, the guests from Hartberg presented themselves extremely efficiently in Pasching, which should make the difference that day. Rene Kriwak (55th), Dario Tadic (62nd) and Matija Horvat (78th) used their opportunities consistently in the second half and gave their club their third win of the season. “After three defeats in a row, that obviously felt really, really good. That was important for the table on the one hand, and for morale on the other,” said TSV coach Klaus Schmidt.
For the birthday child Mario Sonnleitner, who celebrated his 36th birthday on Saturday, the three points weren’t a gift, but rather a well-deserved reward for hard work. “We know that we are actually a good team and have good players. But it’s the same as always and everywhere: With negative experiences, there is a lack of faith and self-confidence from time to time. That win was extremely important because it was convincing, because it was 3-0. So that will give us a lot of strength.”
Klagenfurt continues to ride the wave of success
While the East Styrians now have to travel to Altach next, LASK will defend its third place in the table next Saturday in Klagenfurt with Austria. The Carinthians have been at a high for weeks, which was prolonged on Saturday with a 2-1 home win over newly promoted Lustenau. “What counted today were the three points. It was a hard-earned win. From a playful point of view, an improvement is still necessary, but it’s not always easy to live up to the role of favorites like today,” summarized coach Peter Pacult.
With the third win in a row, the Klagenfurt team are now attacking the top three. Pacult was delighted with the historic winning streak that the club achieved for the first time in the Bundesliga. “All respect to my team, nine points in the last three games is something special.”
