Hartberg 3-3 LASK Linz: Radulovic Rescues Point After Hartberg Lead Twice
SportSignals Match Desk ยท Football analysis desk ยท
This was the kind of match that tells you everything you need to know about both sides. Hartberg showed desire, real desire, and they competed from the first whistle. LASK showed quality when it mattered. Neither side deserved to lose. Both sides gave their goalkeeper a nightmare afternoon. End of.
Hartberg Set the Tone Early
Sascha Horvath put Hartberg in front after just seven minutes, finishing with his right foot after a direct move down the right. The assist came from Florian Flecker. It was the kind of goal you love to see. Quick, purposeful, no messing about.
LASK wobbled but they did not collapse. Konstantin Schopp picked up a yellow card for a foul in the 21st minute, which told you LASK were feeling the pressure. Hartberg were on top and they knew it. Christoph Lang then made it 2-0 on the half hour, finishing with his right foot. Horvath this time was the provider. Hartberg had 60 per cent of the ball and were putting it to use.
The thing is, a 2-0 lead at half time in this competition means nothing if you cannot hold your shape in the second half. Hartberg could not.
LASK Hit Back Immediately After the Break
The half-time whistle had barely stopped ringing when LASK pulled one back. Andrija Radulovic, introduced as a substitute at the break, scored with his left foot in the 46th minute. The assist came from Jed Drew, also a half-time substitute. LASK's manager made two changes at the interval and both of them were immediately involved in a goal. That is accountability working the right way.
Hartberg's response was admirable. Andrรฉs Andrade restored the two-goal advantage on 58 minutes, finishing with his left foot from a George Bello assist. At 3-1, Hartberg looked like they might just hold on. They had the ball. They had the momentum. They had earned it.
They did not hold on.
LASK's Comeback and the Numbers That Explain It
Radulovic scored again on 72 minutes with his left foot to make it 3-2. This man came on at half time and scored twice inside 30 minutes. That is not lucky. That is a player with the attitude to make an impact when it is needed most. Jed Drew then made it 3-3 on 77 minutes, assisted by Radulovic. The roles reversed. The comeback was complete.
LASK had accumulated four yellow cards by the final whistle, given to Schopp, Tobias Kainz, Radulovic, and Fabian Wilfinger in stoppage time. Sixteen fouls committed. That is a side scrapping and competing with their backs against the wall, which is exactly what you want to see from a team that was being outplayed for long stretches.
Hartberg committed just five fouls all match. They did not need to foul because they had the ball. Sixty per cent possession. Five hundred and sixteen passes at 84 per cent accuracy. Twenty-five total crosses, four of which were accurate. Nine corners to LASK's one. Hartberg dominated the surface statistics. They just could not close the game out.
The Basics Let Hartberg Down
Listen, I have no interest in praising a team that leads 3-1 and ends up drawing 3-3. That is not a good result for Hartberg. That is two points dropped. The basics of game management. You are two goals up at home with 32 minutes to play. You win that game. You do not give a substitute striker room to score twice.
Hartberg's goalkeeping situation was alarming. The stats show zero saves from their goalkeeper. LASK had three shots on target and scored three goals. Every single shot on target went in. That is unacceptable from a defensive standpoint, regardless of how well the outfield players performed.
LASK, to their credit, had the right attitude in the second half. Their goalkeeper made three saves and kept them in it long enough for the substitutes to do the damage. That is standards. That is what you need from every player on the pitch.
Context From Recent Form
Looking at what Hartberg have done in their last ten completed Austrian Bundesliga matches, you see a side that wins 3 and loses 6. They have conceded 21 goals in that sample and have not kept a single clean sheet. Not one. The defensive frailty is not a surprise. It is a pattern. The previous meeting between these two sides in April saw Hartberg lose 5-1 at home to LASK. So to go 3-1 up today and still not win tells you something about where this team is mentally in these situations.
LASK had won nine of their ten most recent Austrian Bundesliga matches in this sample before today. Their only defeat came against Sturm Graz, 2-1, a week before this fixture. A side in that kind of form does not go quietly when two goals down. Hartberg should have known that. They should have been more streetwise.
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Final Word
Hartberg showed enough today to suggest they can compete at this level. The desire was there. The work rate was there. But desire without the basics of game management gets you a draw when you should have had three points. LASK showed the standards of a side that knows how to find a way. Their substitutes changed the game entirely. That is squad depth and that is what separates the top sides from the rest in any division.
A point each. Both sides will know exactly why they did not get all three.