By OkayGoal
UEFA Champions League,
League Stage – 2
Lask Linz
LAS
Liverpool
LIV
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Venue
- Raiffeisen Arena
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Referee
- Tobias Stieler
Robert Ljubicic 63′
Florian Flecker 74′
Florian Flecker 77′
Ronald Araujo 22′
Bradley Barcola 24′
Bradley Barcola 37′
Jeremie Frimpong 51′
Bradley Barcola 66′
Lewis Koumas 72′
Bradley Barcola scored his first Liverpool hat-trick as the Reds bounced back from their defeat to Manchester City with a 6-3 win over LASK in the Champions League.
Ronald Araujo, Jeremie Frimpong and Lewis Koumas were also on target for Andoni Iraola’s side, who raced into a commanding lead before surviving a spirited second-half response from their Austrian opponents.
Liverpool arrived in Linz looking to recover from Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League defeat at Anfield, with Iraola making several changes to his starting XI.
With Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike unavailable through injury, Koumas led the attack alongside Barcola and Rio Ngumoha.
The visitors made a bright start and Koumas almost opened the scoring after six minutes, rounding goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth before being denied by a recovering defender.
Liverpool eventually broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when Araujo rose highest to meet Kostas Tsimikas’ corner and powered a header into the net.
Just two minutes later, Barcola doubled the advantage with his first goal for the club.
Ngumoha caused problems down the flank before Koumas collected the loose ball and picked out the Frenchman, who calmly finished from inside the penalty area.
Liverpool continued to create chances, with Koumas having a goal ruled out for offside before Ryan Gravenberch struck the post following an excellent move involving Florian Wirtz.
The third goal arrived in the 37th minute when Wirtz threaded a pass through to Barcola, who took the ball beyond his marker before finishing low into the far corner.
It capped an impressive opening 45 minutes for Liverpool, who went into the break with a comfortable three-goal advantage.
Lask hit back before Liverpool pull away
Lask Linz
Liverpool
However, LASK refused to give up and produced a much-improved attacking performance after the restart.
Florian Flecker scored twice for the hosts, while Marin Ljubicic also found the net as Liverpool struggled to maintain the defensive control they had shown during the first half.
The Austrian side were particularly dangerous when breaking forward, with Yadaly Diaby providing three assists during the contest.
Despite conceding three times, Liverpool continued to threaten at the other end and their attacking quality ultimately proved too much for the hosts.
Barcola completed his hat-trick to mark a memorable evening, while Frimpong and Koumas also got on the scoresheet as Liverpool took their tally to six.
Koumas’ goal was particularly satisfying after the youngster had earlier seen two efforts disallowed.
The result gives Liverpool two wins from their opening two Champions League matches this season, following their victory over Atletico Madrid.
The UEFA Champions League Table
- Position 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 : Promotion – Champions League (Play Offs: 1/8-finals)
- Position 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 : Promotion – Champions League (Play Offs: 1/16-finals)