LASK suffered a defeat in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff, as the Linz side lost 0-3 to Celtic Glasgow despite a spirited performance.
LASK started explosively at Celtic Park, with the ball in the net after just over 30 seconds, but Samuel Adeniran was offside when he took his shot. Just two minutes later, the striker had another opportunity, this time shooting just wide to the right.
In a turbulent opening phase, Lukas Jungwirth in goal for LASK was also called into action, with the keeper making a strong save from a Benjamin Nygren shot in the eighth minute.
Efficient Celtic, LASK offside
Then LASK initially had some luck when Camilo Duran didn't strike the ball perfectly. Subsequently, Adeniran again made his presence felt with a shot, but Viljami Sinisalo in the Celtic goal was alert.
The Scots subsequently had significantly more possession but created few chances from it – until the 27th minute: LASK couldn't quite clear the ball in defense, Nygren snatched the ball at the edge of the box and fired it into the right corner with his first touch, giving Jungwirth no chance.
The Upper Austrians were unfazed and continued to play boldly forward. George Bello delivered a superb cross to Moses Usor, who headed it in – however, the goal was immediately disallowed, as Usor was also offside when he took the shot.
Duran nearly replicates the 1-0 goal
And it got even more bitter for LASK: Following a similar situation to the 0-1, Duran got a shot away from the edge of the box, struck the ball perfectly, and extended the lead for the Scots (38').
In the second half, Celtic were better; a deflected shot from Callum McGregor hit the post. Usor, on the other hand, had two chances, but once he shot over, and another time he couldn't get enough power behind the ball.
LASK's fight goes unrewarded
Then Celtic struck again, sealing the decision: Duran, who had just shot narrowly wide, scored to make it 3-0 after a one-two with Nygren (67').
However, LASK didn't give up even after that, but they lacked the final cutting edge; Adeniran repeatedly shot too centrally. In defense, Jungwirth was able to hold onto a shot from Callum McGregor on the second attempt.
After that, Celtic comfortably saw out the game; with the 3-0 lead, the Scottish record champions have an excellent starting position for the return leg. The second leg will take place next Tuesday at 9:00 PM in Linz.
