5-1 statement win in battle of summit in Linz!

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FC Red Bull Salzburg

·22 Februari 2026

5-1 statement win in battle of summit in Linz!

Successful start to Beichler era

What a statement in the top-of-the-table clash! Under the leadership of our new head coach, Daniel Beichler, we showed from the very first second that we meant business at LASK. In a highly intense encounter on Matchday 20 of the ADMIRAL Bundesliga, a total of four goals were scored in the first half alone, before we finally sealed the deal with about half an hour remaining. Level on points with Linz before the match, we now have three extremely important points in the bag.

Match summary

We started like a house on fire. From the opening whistle, our lads went all out, throwing themselves into every challenge and giving the home side hardly any room to breathe. The reward for their hard work came immediately. In the sixth minute, less than ten seconds after winning the ball in midfield, LASK gave Kerim Alajbegovic far too much space. Our youngster didn't hesitate, unleashed a shot from distance, and buried the ball perfectly into the bottom corner – for an early lead!

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We pressed on immediately! Just four minutes later, after a free kick in our own half, we reacted in lightning fast manner: Karim Konate was sent into a duel with his marker, shook him off with a dribble inside, and surprised LASK goalkeeper Jungwirth with a sharp shot into the near corner (10'). After a quarter of an hour, Kühbauer's side finally found their footing and found success in ice hockey style. Lang attempted a one-timer shot, but Kalajdzic blocked Alex Schlager's view (on his 100th appearance for us) and deflected the ball past the goalkeeper (18').

In a period of end-to-end play, during which Usor narrowly missed a chance for the equaliser (32'), we found the right response. Alajbegovic delivered a perfectly timed through ball to Sota Kitano, who calmly slotted home to make it 3-1 at half-time (37').

It remained intense after the break. Just 30 seconds after the restart, a shot from Bello created the first dangerous moment. Linz applied more pressure, but Alex Schlager dealt with their long-range shots, such as Jörgensen's (58'), with his usual composure.

During this period, we sat a little deeper and waited for counter-attacking opportunities. After Baidoo missed the first counter-attacking opportunity (63'), a set piece proved decisive: Karim Konate headed home a precise Krätzig corner at the near post in the 64th minute, with a perfectly timed effort to make it 4-1 – and complete his brace!

In the closing stages, we were rock solid defensively. Schlager won his one-on-one duel against Adeniran (68'), while we were far more likely to score a fifth than LASK were to get their second. Baidoo's blocked shot (73') and a Konate goal disallowed for offside by a mater of centimetres (80') initially prevented an even bigger lead.

The literal final touch came from an absolute screamer from substitute Damir Redzic that made it 5-1 right on the final whistle! What a statement in the title race and a perfect start to the Daniel Beichler era. We continue next week with a home match when we host TSV Hartberg at the Red Bull Arena on Sunday 1 March at 17:00 CET.

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Views on the game

We put in a really good performance for long stretches! Sure, there were a few moments where we lacked clarity, and plenty of areas we can work on despite the win. The way the lads performed together – you could feel a great energy from the very first second – is good for the team, good for all of us, and will give us a boost.

Daniel Beichler

You can see what's possible with the right energy. Our sporting director, Marcus Mann, put it perfectly - a change of coach also means that every single player in the team has to take a hard look at themselves, and today we saw that everyone did just that. We've already been working on a few things over the last four days. We're trying to create a certain culture, a way of defining what we stand for and what our daily standards should be. At the end of the day, today's victory is fantastic and feels really good in the current situation, but we'll be back to work tomorrow preparing for the next match.

Alex Schlager

It was all about the energy today. We brought everything onto the pitch, we were tenacious and aggressive, and efficient in attack – that's how you end up winning like that. The scoreline was well deserved, even though we could have conceded more. We'll definitely take the three points. It was a good performance from all of us today, and we can build on that.

Frans Krätzig

Match details

Line-ups & substitutions

LASK: Jungwirth – Mbuyamba, Alemao, Andrade – Molgaard, Bogarde (90' Coulibaly), Horvath ©, Bello (90' Kacavenda) – Lang (67' Adeniran) – Kalajdzic (81' Entrup), Usor (81' Flecker) FC Red Bull Salzburg: Schlager – Lainer, Gadou, Drexler, Krätzig (90' Terzic) – Diabate, Bidstrup ©, Kitano (67' Yeo) – Baidoo (84' Redzic), Konate (84' Onisiwo), Alajbegovic (Bischoff 90')

Goals: Kalajdzic (18') - Alajbegovic (6'), Konate (10', 64'), Kitano (37'), Redzic (90+4') Referee: Alexander Harkam Yellow cards: Lainer (50' foul)

Injury news

Not available were Takumu Kawamura (knee), John Mellberg (thigh), Justin Omoregie (shuolder), Valentin Sulzbacher (calf) and Yorbe Vertessen (thigh).

Jannik Schuster was ruled out with an injury in the warm-up.