LASK coach Sageder on his decision: “That didn’t necessarily help the team”

However, much more than an annoying 2-1 last-minute defeat would have been possible for Linz on Thursday evening in Anderlecht. This is another reason why coach Thomas Sageder’s team has not yet written off a European winter. “We are not giving up. As long as it is still mathematically possible, we will fight,” emphasized Sageder.

The gap to second place from Belgium is just as four points as that to third place Toulouse. The first two teams are promoted, third place still entitles them to move to the knockout phase of the Conference League.

• Also read: Sturm took a point from Atalanta

With a win on November 9th on the Gugl in the second leg against the Belgian league leaders, the gap could be reduced to one point. “Everything is still possible. They’ll both come to us, so we’ll take something with them,” said midfielder Sascha Horvath optimistically in an interview with Sky.

“At eye level”

Finally, there will be a home game against Toulouse on December 14th, followed by a guest appearance on November 30th against leader Liverpool (9), who may already have qualified and have the maximum number of points. “Apart from Liverpool, you have to say in this group that we showed against both opponents that we can meet them on equal terms,” said Sageder. That was also the case on Thursday. Especially in the first half, the Linz team had the game firmly under control and could easily have led 2-0 as a result of Moses Usor’s goal (24′).

“I think we played a really good game in the first half and, if I remember correctly, even had a huge chance of scoring the second goal. At this level, it’s exactly these little things that make the difference. Especially internationally, you have to have the few chances you get the goals,” Sageder summed up. He left George Bello in the dressing room at half-time, a bad decision in retrospect.

“The change didn’t necessarily help the team by giving us more impetus, but rather we lost the thread a bit,” admitted the 40-year-old.

Not without reason

Sageder didn’t make the swap without reason. “George already had a yellow card and immediately afterwards committed a foul, where the fourth official signaled to me that he couldn’t afford much more.” After the restart, the guests came under more pressure every minute, and the equalizer was actually only a matter of time.

• Also read: National team player suspended for 10 months

“We didn’t put as much pressure on the ball and had little relief. But you also saw the strength of Saint-Gilloise,” said Sageder. Even if many people don’t know the team by name, it is a really good team.

They benefited in the 84th minute from a penalty goal from Cameron Puertas after an unnecessary entry by Felix Luckeneder in the penalty area against Loic Lapoussin. As a bonus, Christian Burgess also scored with a header from Puertas’s free-kick cross in the last action of the game. “There is almost nothing worse than conceding a goal at the very end,” said Sageder. And Horvath called the two goals conceded after standard situations “of course very unnecessary”. That was also the defeat itself. “A very bitter one, but I wouldn’t describe it as deserved,” emphasized the LASK coach.