LASK Linz beat Ried 4:1 in the third round of the Austrian Bundesliga at the Raiffeisen Arena on Friday. The hosts raced into a 3:1 lead within the first half-hour before C. Lang pulled one back late on, but a red card for Robert Ljubičić in the seventy-fourth minute changed the complexion of the game. Ried were reduced to ten men and could only manage a consolation in stoppage time.
P. Sissoko gave the visitors a shock start in the eighth minute, and here's the thing — LASK responded within two minutes. S. Adeniran equalised and M. Usor put the hosts ahead by the eighteenth minute. Adeniran added a second in the twenty-seventh minute, and it looked like the visitors were done for. To be fair, Ried showed spirit when they pulled a goal back through Lang.
What stood out was the contrast in chances. LASK created six big chances and registered seven shots on target against Ried's two. The visitors managed only one big chance and had four shots off target. Possession was even at fifty per cent, but LASK's efficiency was telling. They finished with six corners to Ried's zero, which says something about territorial dominance.
Ljubičić's dismissal came after Samuel Johansen Chukwudi had already been booked for Ried. The away team added two more yellows — Lukas Malicsek and Joris Boguo — as frustration mounted. Substitutions followed in abundance: LASK brought on S. Horvath, M. Bogarde, and K. P. Molgaard Jorgensen, while Ried introduced P. Sissoko, S. Schwab, E. E. Aisowieren, O. Sorg, and D. Radonjic in search of something.
The result leaves LASK top of the table with five wins from five games and fifteen points. Ried sit ninth with four points from one win, one draw, and three defeats. They are running out of games if they want to climb away from the bottom half. For LASK, the win extends an unbeaten run and keeps them clear at the summit.