Slovan Bratislava’s record losing run in the UEFA Champions League main draw extended to 12 matches after a heavy 4-0 defeat to resurgent LASK at Raiffeisen Arena.
The home side were on top in the opening exchanges, and they came close to opening the scoring when Andres Andrade’s header was saved at point-blank range by Aleksander Popovic.
Just moments later, Moses Usor saw his effort from a tight angle turned behind by Popovic, but from the resulting corner the Laskler hit the front when Kasper Jorgensen got his head on the inswinging delivery and directed the ball just past Slovan’s Serbian keeper and into the net.
Having netted the opening goal for the first time in the league phase, LASK were keen to press home their advantage against a vulnerable Slovan outfit, and shortly after Usor had fired just wide from 25 yards, LASK found the net twice in seven minutes before half-time.
First, Jorgensen netted his second goal when his free-kick from just outside the area found the bottom right corner, before Robert Ljubicic reacted quickest to poke the ball home on the rebound from a matter of yards to ensure that the Belasi have now conceded at least three goals in seven of their last eight away matches in UCL main draw.
With the contest all but over, Slovan’s focus will have been on regaining some pride and preventing any further damage, however less than three minutes after the restart they found themselves four goals behind when Adeniran advanced into the area and sent his left-footed effort from a tight angle flying into the top right corner.
Ljubicic should have added to LASK’s tally with the hour mark approaching, with Dietmar Kuhbauer’s side somehow failing to find a fifth goal in the final half hour, but it was ultimately as comfortable a victory as they could have hoped for in Europe’s top tier competition.
The result, which saw LASK net three or more goals in three consecutive major European matches for the first time in their history, means the Austrians have now claimed back-to-back victories in the UCL, while Slovan’s miserable start to the competition continues as they sit rock bottom of the league phase standings having netted just once and conceded 17 times in their four matches so far.