3:0 – LASK had no trouble in Gurten: »That was a good first game of the season«

LASK solved the emergency without any problems: Regional league football team Gurten could not force the previous season’s third-placed Bundesliga team to their limits in the first round of the ÖFB Cup: The athletes advanced to the second round with a 3-0 win and warmed up rather leisurely for their first Bundesliga task on Saturday in Hartberg.

LASK goalkeeper Tobias Lawal only started to sweat after the final whistle – when his sister Linda asked him about the game in a TV interview. “That was a really good game, a good first game of the season,” answered the 24-year-old, who had not been very busy before that.

In the Klaus-Roitinger Stadium in Ried, where Gurten moved to against Rapid as they did last year, there was hardly any cup atmosphere among the 3,500 spectators yesterday. LASK played its role as favourites too controlled. The LASK fans only interrupted their hour-and-a-half-long singing session when the goals were scored. Valon Berisha headed in the 1-0 (32′) after a delicate cross from Robert Zulj, and George Bello increased the lead to 2-0 (43′). The American smiled because it was a gift from Gurten goalkeeper Elias Jagereder: the 20-year-old, who had celebrated the championship title in the Southern District League with Neuhofen seven weeks ago, let the ball slip through on his competitive debut for Gurten. Moses Usor scored to make it 3-0 (84′).

Black and white debutante ball

“In many areas it was what I expected,” said LASK coach Thomas Darazs, who praised Gurten. “The opponent was extremely well organized.” But that wasn’t enough to come close to a sensation. “LASK let us run extremely well,” explained Gurten’s attacker Jakob Kreuzer.

The two black and white newcomers in the starting eleven, central defender Hrvoje Smolcic and Melayro Bogarde on the right side of defence, made very decent competitive debuts, Alexis Tibidi played his first minutes for LASK after being substituted. Enis Safin and Kevin Lebersorger, who were actually signed for the amateurs, were also still on the ball because they had earned a professional appearance in the pre-season – and the other newcomers Maximilian Entrup, Jerome Boateng and Tomas Tavares were not yet there.

SV Ried visits Regionalliga West club Röthis

While Gurten played in the Klaus Roitinger Stadium in Ried yesterday, the local SV Guntamatic Ried will have to face the Regionalliga West club Röthis tomorrow (10.30 a.m.). The Vorarlberg team finished the last season in tenth place – and are no strangers to the cup for Upper Austrian clubs: In the last cup competition, LASK played in Röthis in the first round and celebrated a 6-0 victory. Ried defense chief Nikki Havenaar: “The goal is of course quite clear: we get through to the next round.”

Ried coach Max Senft, who only has to do without the injured Wilfried Eza, sees things similarly: “The cup is very important to us. Together with our fans, we want to move into the second round of the cup.”