Moses Usor gave Eric Chelle the perfect reminder of his form on Saturday night, coming off the bench to score a 90th-minute winner as LASK Linz beat SV Ried 4-2 in a breathless Upper Austrian derby. The 24-year-old forward needed just 29 minutes on the pitch to settle a six-goal thriller at the Josko Arena, firing home a left-footed finish from Kasper Jorgensen’s pass to restore LASK’s lead before Krystof Danek added a fourth in stoppage time.
It was the latest decisive contribution from a player who has quietly become one of LASK’s most reliable match-winners this season — and it arrived just days before the Super Eagles open camp for their decisive qualifiers against Tanzania.
Moses Usor settles a six-goal derby in 29 minutes
Lang put LASK ahead inside three minutes, Ried turned it around to lead 2-1, and LASK levelled before the break — 2-2 at half-time. The second half stayed on a knife edge until Chelle’s newest striking option entered the fray.
Introduced in the 61st minute for Lang, Usor settled it on 90 minutes, calmly finishing Jorgensen’s pass to make it 3-2. Danek sealed the points in stoppage time.
Speaking to Sky Sport Austria afterwards, Usor admitted the derby had been a battle. “Yeah, because it is a derby and derby games are always difficult. It is not easy playing a derby. It is always a difficult fight for both teams,” he said. “It is a good goal from me. For the teamwork, it is a team job, and we fight and come back. It is just the team spirit. We never give up easily.”
Moses Usor’s numbers keep climbing
The winner took Usor to 11 goal contributions in 19 appearances this season — five goals and six assists: three goals and three assists in 11 Bundesliga games, one goal and two assists in five Champions League outings, and a goal and an assist in three Cup matches.
The form is no flash in the pan. Just four days earlier, Usor provided an assist in LASK’s commanding 4-0 Champions League victory over Slovan Bratislava, and he helped the club win the Austrian league and cup double last season. LASK are the reigning champions, and Usor has grown into a central figure in their attack.
What it means for the Super Eagles
Usor has been named in Chelle’s 24-man squad for the November double-header against Tanzania, and his timing could hardly be better. Nigeria host the Taifa Stars in Uyo on Friday, 13 November, before the return leg in Zanzibar on Tuesday, 17 November, with only the Group L winners guaranteed a place at the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
He already knows how to deliver for Nigeria. He scored on his Super Eagles debut against Madagascar on 25 September, coming off the bench and netting the winner four minutes later in a 2-1 comeback victory in Uyo. With Victor Osimhen out after knee surgery and Kelechi Iheanacho overlooked despite 17 goals in Turkey, Chelle needs his remaining forwards firing — and Usor has given his coach a serious selection headache. For more on the qualifiers, check today’s predictions.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0 — Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, by Werner100359) — collage by SportsBuddy.
