Celtic maintained their perfect start to the competitive season on Sunday, while their upcoming Champions League play-off opponents LASK were given a few warnings of their own despite another victory.
Kasper Hogh was the Celtic hero at Rugby Park, opening his account for the club with a hat-trick as the champions dismantled Kilmarnock 5-1.
Two Premiership games, two wins, and Celtic are already sitting top of the table.
LASK have made a strong start to their own domestic league campaign. The Austrian champions have won their opening two matches without conceding, although Sunday’s trip to Austria Wien was not quite as comfortable as the final scoreline suggests.
They had opened their campaign with a routine 3-0 home victory over Grazer AK, but their first away assignment was considerably more awkward.
Austria Wien, who finished fourth last season, thought they had taken the lead after just 13 minutes. The goal was ruled out for offside.
LASK eventually broke the deadlock early in the second half, before Austria Wien had what they believed was an equaliser chalked off following a VAR intervention.
Things then unravelled further for the hosts.
Austria were reduced to ten men and LASK were awarded a penalty. Moses Usor saw his initial effort saved before converting the rebound to secure a 2-0 victory.
Five goals scored, none conceded and six points from six looks convincing on paper. LASK goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth was not pretending everything had gone to plan, though.
Speaking after the match, he gave a frank assessment of where his side had been vulnerable despite collecting another three points. He said (via RecordSport)
“Around the time of the offside goal, we relied too much on possession and weren’t mentally prepared for Austria [Wien’s] counter-attacks. We also need to be more clinical at the end; we might be punished for that against other opponents.”
Jungwirth did not mention Celtic, but the warning is obvious enough with the Champions League play-off now looming.
LASK got the job done in Vienna, which ultimately matters most, but their goalkeeper knows there were moments when they gave their opponents opportunities; Celtic will have taken notice.
There is around £40 million riding on reaching the Champions League proper, and neither club needs reminding of what qualification would mean in every aspect.
Celtic produced their best performance of the young season at Rugby Park, while LASK left Vienna with three points and a clean sheet but also an honest admission from their number one that better opponents could punish the same mistakes.
Celtic Park will provide the next test in the first leg on Wednesday, August 19. They then travel to Austria for the decider on Tuesday, August 25.
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