LASK Linz beat Austria Wien 2:0 in the Bundesliga's second round on Sunday evening, extending their unbeaten run to five wins from five opening matches. The hosts had taken the field looking to build on their midweek victory over Beitar Jerusalem, but found themselves chasing shadows against a side that had not lost in their last nine competitive outings.
The early exchanges offered little clarity, though Austria Wien came closest when Ibrahim Buhari's effort in the twelfth minute was ruled out for offside after a VAR review. S. Helm picked up a yellow card soon after, and the visitors made their first change at the break when J. Eggestein came off.
And here's the thing — the breakthrough arrived in the fifty-fourth minute when A. Andrade found the net. The goal shifted the balance entirely, and Austria Wien were forced to chase the game while LASK moved into a comfortable position. By then, the visitors had already created more clear-cut opportunities than the hosts had managed all afternoon.
Austria Wien's troubles deepened in the seventy-fifth minute when K. Boateng had a goal cancelled, and the red card for A. Dragovic in the eighty-first minute left them with nine men. M. Usor missed the subsequent penalty in the eighty-third minute before converting his second attempt, sealing the result.
The statistics tell a story of control: LASK held 57 per cent possession, registered seven shots on target to the hosts' one, and created six big chances compared with zero. Austria Wien completed 268 passes against 406 for the visitors, while shots accuracy stood at 17 per cent for the hosts versus 32 per cent for LASK.
To be fair, the table now reflects what the match demonstrated — LASK sit top with fifteen points from five games, while Austria Wien drop further down, remaining in twelfth place with just three points and four defeats.