Football

LASK vs Liverpool player ratings: Reds come back from behind once again

September 21, 2023 7:38 pm
LASK vs Liverpool player ratings: Reds come back from behind once again
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  • Liverpool beat LASK 3-1 away from home to start their Europa League campaign in the best possible way.
  • The Reds had found themselves a goal down in the first half when Florien Flecker netted a screamer from long range.
  • Goals from Nunez, Diaz and Salah rescued the match for the Reds.

LASK player ratings: Flecker magic not enough for the Austrians

Tobias Lawal 6/10 – Couldn’t have done anything about any of the goals and made a few handy saves.

Philipp Ziereis 6/10 – Struggled against Diaz in the second half but did well in the first.

Andres Andrade 5/10 – Looked out of his depth at times and was very shakey on the ball.

Felix Luckeneder 5/10 – Unsurprisingly was substituted off the pitch after a series of defensive errors which gave Liverpool encouragement.

Florian Flecker 8/10 – Scored a stunner to open proceedings and looked like one of LASK’s most accomplished ball players.

Sascha Horvath 6/10 – Pressed well but ran out of gas towards the end of the match.

Branko Jovicic 7/10 – Looked bright and had a few chances to get on the scoresheet.

Marin Ljubicic 8/10 – Linked up really well with the other forwards and was a problem for the Liverpool defence all evening.

Robert Zulj 6/10 – Battled well but was outclassed at times.

Elias Havel 5/10 – A fairly anonymous display.

Substitutes

Moussa Kone 5/10 – Struggled to get to grips with the game when he came on.

Ibrahim Mustapha 6/10 – Came on after Liverpool had already wrestled control of the game.

Ebrima Darboe N/A

Sanoussy Ba N/A

George Bello N/A

Liverpool player ratings: Diaz rescues the game for Klopp’s men

Caoimhin Kelleher 7/10 – Made some impressive stops and his distribution was decent enough.

Stefan Bajcetic 6/10 – Far from a natural position for the Spaniard but he did okay.

Ibrahima Konate 7/10 – His recovery pace bailed Liverpool out a few times.

Virgil van Dijk 7/10 – Didn’t do too much wrong and never looked flustered.

Kostas Tsimikas 6/10 – Lacks the intensity and quality of Andy Robertson but battled away.

Ryan Gravenberch 8/10 – Made a great driving run for the second and topped it off with an inch-perfect ball to Diaz.

Wataru Endo 6/10 – Kept the ball moving without doing anything extraordinary. Looked a little slow in transition.

Harvey Elliott 5/10 – Wasn’t in the game much.

Ben Doak 5/10 – Looked like he was trying too hard to impress at time but his time will come.

Darwin Nunez 7/10 – Made some great runs but was never found. Deserved a goal via a spot kick all things considered.

Luis Diaz 9/10 – Was a huge problem for LASK throughout and Liverpool wouldn’t have turned it around without him.

Substitutes

Alexis Mac Allister 6/10 – Helped Liverpool to dominate the ball after his inclusion.

Dominik Szoboszlai 7/10 – A class act.

Joe Gomez 7/10 – Looked more natural than Bacjetic.

Mo Salah 7/10 – Came and scored a goal. What more can you ask for?

Joel Matip N/A

LASK vs Liverpool match summary and highlights

Liverpool opened up their Europa League campaign with yet another comeback victory. Following on from their 3-1 win away at Wolves at the weekend, Jurgen Klopp would have been desperate to have seen his team get the first goal of the game but after selecting a second-string side, it was always on the cards in a feverish atmosphere in Austria.

After a quick start by the home side, they deservedly took the lead in the 15th minute when Flecker rifled the ball past Kelleher in the Liverpool goal in a sensational strike from the edge of the box. The ball had made its way to him directly from a corner and although the Liverpool defence were slow to react, the Austrian’s touch was excellent to set himself for the effort.

LASK had further chance to increase their lead and they were made to pay in the second half when Liverpool came out in a more aggressive manner. After a dubious award of a penalty, Darwin Nunez levelled the scores before Luis Diaz thumped home the winner after a delicious ball across goal from debutant, Ryan Gravenberch.

Mo Salah, who was subbed on late on, rubber-stamped the victory with a neat finish from close range before the game drew to a close. The Reds will now turn their attention back to the Premier League and a home match against West Ham on Sunday.

Player of the match: Luis Diaz

Luis Diaz seems to be one of the most exciting players on the pitch every time he plays and that was the case once again tonight. The winger drew the foul for Liverpool’s equaliser before thumping home to make it 2-1 shortly after. Diaz has surely done enough for a start against West Ham after he started their last league fixture on the bench.

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