Bitter blow at home to LASK

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·10. April 2026

Bitter blow at home to LASK

2-3 defeat after dramatic final phase

One moment we were hoping for a late winner, but the next, the LASK fans erupted in jubilation. We suffered a dramatic defeat against LASK in Friday night's Matchday 26 encounter in the ADMIRAL Bundesliga, and with it a hefty blow to our league position.

Match summary

Persistent rain showers couldn't dampen the enthusiasm ahead of the clash with the Linz side, who went into it level on points in the title race. The start was slow and sluggish for both sides before LASK caught us cold in the eighth minute. A corner kick routine by Horvath landed perfectly at Cisse's feet, whose header went in off the inside of the post to give the visitors an early lead. Our Red Bulls responded with plenty of possession and took control of the game, even if the final touch was initially lacking.

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In the 28th minute, we finally found a breakthrough. Anrie Chase unlocked the opposing defense with a fantastic long ball, which the onrushing Frans Krätzig laid off in full sprint, perfectly into the middle where Karim Konate slotted home the equaliser.

After the goal, the game noticeably slowed down, and our team made life difficult for themselves with some careless misplaced passes. Our efforts only became more concrete shortly before the half-time whistle, when a powerful header from Jannik Schuster in the 41st minute was just barely cleared by the visitors.

After the break, a hard-fought match developed, in which the visitors exuded a bit more confidence going forward than our team. The Upper Austrians were rewarded in the 62nd minute when they executed a counter-attack cleanly, with Kalajdzic finishing off a move to regain the lead. Our Red Bulls almost responded immediately, but after a long throw-in in the 67th minute, Konate was just inches away from converting after Chase headed on.

It all came down to a highly dramatic final phase, which started with a powerful free-kick from Alajbegovic in the 79th minute. The Bosnian's wonderfully placed attempt was just tipped onto the woodwork by LASK goalkeeper Jungwirth. We continued to increase the tempo and initially struggled to break down the visitors' tight defence until, in the 91st minute, the ball suddenly landed at the feet of Maurits Kjaergaard. The Dane didn't hesitate for a second and his uncompromising finish sent us into raptures with the late equaliser.

However, our hopes of salvaging a point proved short-lived, as we failed to clear a cross decisively enough in the 95th minute following a misunderstanding, and substitute Mbuyamba slotted home to make it 3-2 for Linz. This bitter defeat sees us drop to fourth place in the table for now, and we're now fully focused on our away game next Sunday against FK Austria Vienna.

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At the end of the day, conceding such a late goal is obviously extremely painful. Overall, it simply wasn't enough from us over the 90 minutes, especially defensively. It really hurts. Mistakes will always happen, but it's the frequency that matters, and it means the battle in the league is intensifying. It's very, very bitter because we've disappointed the fans – but we still have to hold our heads high, there's just too much at stake.

Alexander Schlager

We put everything out there, but in a big match like that, it's the little things that make the difference. Not securing the point at the end – that absolutely cannot happen to us. We had our chances, we invested a lot, but in the end it wasn't enough. Today was a real blow.

Stefan Lainer

Match data

Line-ups & substitutions

FC Red Bull Salzburg: Schlager – Lainer, Chase, Schuster (86. Onisiwo), Terzic (68. Kjaergaard) – Bidstrup © – Alajbegovic, Krätzig – Kitano – Konate, Vertessen (68. Baidoo) LASK: Jungwirth – Cisse, Alemao, Andrade – Molgaard (90.+4 Flecker), Coulibaly (90. Mbuyamba), Horvath ©, Bogarde – Kalajdzic (81. Entrup) – Usor, Adeniran (81. Lang)

Referee: Christian-Petru Ciochirca Goals: Konate (28.), Kjaergaard (90.+1) bzw. Cisse (8.), Kalajdzic (62.), Mbuyamba (90.+5) Yellow cards: Coulibaly (57./Foul) Attendance: 8,737