Match reportNunez, Diaz and Salah strike as Liverpool beat LASK in Europa League
Second-half goals from Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool a 3-1 comeback victory at LASK to start their Europa League campaign.
On matchday one of Group E, the Reds fell behind at Raiffeisen Arena in Linz as Florian Flecker rasped a 20-yard effort home just shy of the quarter-hour.
Jürgen Klopp’s side steadily gained control of the affair, however, and quickfire goals from Nunez – via the penalty spot – and Diaz were followed by a late Salah finish to secure three points.
The victory also meant a piece of club history for Klopp, who became the first Liverpool manager to reach 50 wins in European competition.
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Team
Virgil van Dijk returned to captain a Reds team in Austria that also included Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak and Ryan Gravenberch, with Caoimhin Kelleher in goal.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Bajcetic (Gomez, 60), Konate (Matip, 81), Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Endo (Mac Allister, 60), Gravenberch (Salah, 74), Elliott, Doak (Szoboszlai, 60), Diaz, Nunez.
Unused subs: Alisson, Jaros, Jones, Gakpo, Jota, Robertson, Quansah.
First half
The sides emerged to begin Group E amid a fervent atmosphere inside Raiffeisen Arena that Liverpool looked to quell with early control of the ball.
But LASK posed their first threat in the 13th minute as an attack down the left flank resulted in a cutback into the area for Robert Zulj, whose effort was deflected behind off Van Dijk.
The corner-kick routine saw the ball drifted long and deep to the right-hand edge of the Reds box to be taken in by Flecker. The winger sent a thumped strike across the reach of Kelleher and inside the opposite post for 1-0.
Immediately at the other end, Doak scampered past his marker and swept in a low cross-shot that went wide, before Nunez headed off target after being picked out by Harvey Elliott’s lofted pass into the area.
Next, Van Dijk had to intervene with an important block when Marin Ljubicic broke into the Liverpool box, the visitors aggrieved by a perceived foul on Ibrahima Konate along the way.
The Reds’ best chance yet came in minute 36. A swinging Kostas Tsimikas corner from the right was knocked by Van Dijk into the goalmouth, where Nunez’s close-range header was clawed out by Tobias Lawal.
A string of yellow cards punctuated a bitty passage of play in the moments before an interval that arrived with LASK still their goal to the good.
Second half
Now attacking the end at which to the left were situated the travelling fans, the Reds dictated possession as they probed for an opening.
They created it 10 minutes in as Bajcetic traded passes with Elliott to bound into the area and centre the ball. A scramble concluded with Diaz being fouled by Philipp Ziereis as he looked to shoot.
The referee pointed to the spot, and a VAR check concurred, allowing Nunez to step up and rifle the penalty kick into the left corner of the LASK net.
Kelleher pawed away an Elias Havel swerver from 20 yards before Klopp deployed a triple change with the introductions of Joe Gomez, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.
And Liverpool soon completed the turnaround.
Gravenberch capitalised on space down the right wing and delivered a pinpoint low cross for Diaz to pounce in the middle with a rising first-time finish beyond Lawal.
The Reds pressed on for a third and LASK needed Felix Luckeneder to make a retreating block to deny a drive from Salah, who was brought on to replace Gravenberch following a knock.
But Salah poked a close-range effort home two minutes from time to put the cap on a winning start to the Europa League and a fifth success in a row in all competitions.
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This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.