UEFA Champions League,
League phase – 2nd
Lask Linz
LAS
Liverpool
LIV
-
place
- Raiffeisen Arena
-
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 the first Liverpool hat-trick as the Reds bounced back from their defeat 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 men, who went ahead before surviving a spirited second-half response from their Austrian opponents.
Liverpool arrived in Linz looking to bounce back from Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League defeat at Anfield, with Iraola making several changes to his starting eleven.
With Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike unavailable through injury, Koumas led the attack alongside Barcola and Rio Ngumoha.
The visitors started brightly and Koumas almost opened the scoring after six minutes, rounding goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth before being denied by a recovering defender.
Liverpool finally broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when Araujo rose higher to meet Kostas Tsimikas’ corner and headed into the net.
Just two minutes later, Barcola doubled the lead with his first goal for the club.
Ngumoha caused problems on the wing before Koumas collected the loose ball and caught the Frenchman, who finished calmly from inside the penalty area.
Liverpool continued to create chances, with Koumas having a goal ruled out for offside before Ryan Gravenberch hit the post after an excellent move from Florian Wirtz.
The third goal came in the 37th minute when Wirtz threaded a pass to Barcola, who took the ball beyond his marker before firing low into the corner.
It capped off an impressive opening 45 minutes for Liverpool, who went into the break with a comfortable three-goal lead.
Lask struck before Liverpool pulled away
Lask Linz
Liverpool
However, LASK refused to give up and produced a much improved attack performance after the restart.
Florian Flecker scored twice for the home side, while Marin Ljubicic also found the back of the net as Liverpool struggled to maintain the defensive control they had shown in the first half.
The Austrian side were particularly dangerous going forward, with Yadaly Diaby making three assists in the match.
Despite conceding three times, Liverpool continued to threaten at the other end and their attacking quality eventually proved too much for the hosts.
Barcola completed his hat-trick to cap 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 makes it two wins for Liverpool in their opening two Champions League games 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 Off: Round of 16)
-
position 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 : Promotion – Champions League (Play Off: Round of 16)
Next matches of Lask Linz and Liverpool
