Liverpool thrashed Austrian team LASK 4-0 in the Europa League, with goals from Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, and Luis Diaz.
To escape the dreaded round-of-32 play-off, Toulouse and Union Saint-Gilloise played to a draw. Salah scored a penalty in the second half, his 199th goal for the club, and Gakpo scored in extra time. Diaz and Gakpo had earlier scored.
With a club-record 12 points in the group stage, the tournament favorites have been absolutely dominating, which will satisfy manager Jurgen Klopp—whose pre-match news conference was filled with references to the difficult December time ahead—just on its own.
With their third straight shutout at Anfield since October 2022, the Reds have scored 30 goals while allowing just four in front of their home supporters, extending their perfect home record to ten games.
Actually, that record was never in jeopardy since the Austrians are the worst team in the group. The home team made nine changes from the weekend’s stalemate at Manchester City, with the exception of Salah and left back Kostas Tsimikas, and their weakness was revealed twice in the first three minutes.
Joe Gomez crossed the ball from the left side of the box for Diaz to stoop and force in a twisting header, continuing a play that began on the left.
On the same wing, Salah scored the second goal after being set up by Diaz. He then found Gakpo at the far post for the most basic of close-range volley finishes.
Tsimikas hammered a powerful effort against the crossbar, and Gomez, who has failed to score in eight years with the club, demonstrated the unwavering faith of the home team by sending a 25-yard attempt narrowly wide.
The squad seemed to spend much of the half trying to find a way to get Salah to 100 goals, whether it was by threateningly positioning him on the last defender’s shoulder or by bringing him into the penalty area.
Both of his opportunities were squandered as his angled effort morphed into a cross, eluded Gakpo, and was then calmly saved by the goalie.
Salah scored in the 66th minute of regulation time, but he had to give credit where credit is due: to Gakpo.
The Dutchman was quick enough to follow after his own pass and manage to beat goalkeeper Tobias Lawal to the rebound, but his short through-ball to Diaz went beyond of target.
Similarly unresponsive, Lawal stood by while Salah calmly placed the penalty kick into the far corner of the net.
That settled it, but with Gakpo missing the base of a post from beyond the area, it seemed like more goals might have been scored. Still, the Dutchman earned a second goal in extra time.
The addition of Darwin Nunez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Curtis Jones brought some much-needed energy to the proceedings, with Alexander-Arnold delivering one of his signature all-action, sometimes disappointing displays.
It veered more toward the latter, as the Uruguayan international had one attempt deflected wide and then fired straight at Lawal from eight yards after Harvey Elliott’s deflected strike was denied by the legs of the goalkeeper diving the opposite way.
Marin Ljubcic wasted the visitors’ greatest opportunity as Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher faced his longest run in the starting lineup since Alisson Becker’s hamstring injury sidelined him for two weeks. Kelleher had nothing to do until the last twenty minutes of the game.
He came out unfazed when called upon, smothering Ibrahim Mustapha, blocking Moses Usor’s effort, and making a reflex save from Robert Zulj, LASK’s leading scorer. However, Sunday’s visit from Fulham, a team that is shot-shy and has scored only 13 goals in their last 13 games, will be an even tougher test.
