Liverpool's marquee summer signing Bradley Barcola scored a hat-trick as Andoni Iraola's men recorded an emphatic 6-3 victory over LASK in the UEFA Champions League.
The Frenchman was in clinical form as he scored twice in the first half and once in the second to register his first career treble.
Barcola opened his Liverpool account two minutes after Ronald Araujo netted his first goal for the Reds as the Uruguayan leapt highest to connect with Kostas Tsimikas' in-swinging corner.
Then it was the turn of Barcola, who capitalised on the sublime footwork of Rio Ngumoha and Lewis Koumas to dispatch a curling finish into the far corner.
Barcola combined with Florian Wirtz for his second of the night as the German played a piercing pass through the LASK defence and into the feet of his Reds team-mate, who swivelled before slotting under Lukas Jungwirth to put the visitors out of sight.
Jeremie Frimpong got in on the act in the second half as he made a late dart into the penalty area to connect with Tsimikas' lofted cross and head in at the far post.
LASK got themselves on the scoresheet through substitute Robert Ljubicic, who had only been on the pitch a matter of seconds before finding the back of the net, but Barcola reclaimed the limelight as he ghosted in at the back post to connect with Frimpong's driven cross and score Liverpool's first UEFA Champions League hat-trick in two years.
Koumas deservedly scored his first UEFA Champions League goal to make it six for Liverpool, but the gloss of their free-scoring antics was wiped away in a matter of minutes as another LASK substitute, Florian Flecker, was allowed to score a brace and reduce the deficit.
LASK v Liverpool Timeline
22' - GOAL for Liverpool. Scored by Ronald Araujo, assisted by Kostas Tsimikas.
24' - GOAL for Liverpool. Scored by Bradley Barcola, assisted by Lewis Koumas.
37' - GOAL for Liverpool. Scored by Bradley Barcola, assisted by Florian Wirtz.
46' - Florian Flecker replaced Kasper Paul Molgaard Jorgensen.
51' - GOAL for Liverpool. Scored by Jeremie Frimpong, assisted by Kostas Tsimikas.
62' - Virgil van Dijk replaced Jeremy Jacquet, Joe Gomez replaced Ronald Araujo.
62' - Robert Ljubicic replaced Melayro Bogarde.
63' - GOAL for LASK. Scored by Robert Ljubicic, assisted by Yvan Dibango.
66' - GOAL for Liverpool. Scored by Bradley Barcola, assisted by Jeremie Frimpong.
71' - Sead Kalajdzic replaced Samuel Adeniran, Daniel Elfadil replaced Alessandro Schopf.
72' - GOAL for Liverpool. Scored by Lewis Koumas, assisted by Jeremie Frimpong.
73' - Victor Munoz replaced Bradley Barcola.
74' - GOAL for LASK. Scored by Florian Flecker, assisted by Yvan Dibango.
77' - GOAL for LASK. Scored by Florian Flecker, assisted by Yvan Dibango.
80' - Yellow card for Daniel Elfadil.
82' - Nael Kane replaced Christoph Lang.
85' - Luke Chambers replaced Rio Ngumoha, Alexis Mac Allister replaced Trey Nyoni.
LASK v Liverpool Match Stats
LASK | 3-6 | Liverpool |
36% | Possession | 64% |
12 | Shots | 26 |
2.02 | Expected Goals | 3.34 |
4 | Shots on Target | 9 |
4 | Big Chances | 5 |
3 | Goalkeeper Saves | 1 |
3 | Corners | 11 |
251 | Completed Passes | 523 |
7 | Fouls Committed | 4 |
30 | Clearances | 21 |
1 | Yellow Cards | 0 |
0 | Red Cards | 0 |
