Bradley Barcola silenced his critics on Wednesday, ending his goal drought with a hat-trick as Liverpool secured a chaotic 6-3 victory over LASK in the UEFA Champions League.
The France forward had faced criticism for a series of underwhelming performances since his blockbuster £123 million ($161 million) move from Paris Saint-Germain in August.
However, Barcola finally delivered on his hefty price tag, scoring his first goals for Liverpool in his seventh appearance for the club.
The 24-year-old struck twice before half-time at the Raiffeisen Arena after Ronald Araujo opened the scoring with his first goal for Liverpool.
Jeremie Frimpong extended Liverpool’s lead after the break before Barcola completed his hat-trick. Lewis Koumas then added a sixth goal as Liverpool maintained their 100 per cent record in this season’s Champions League, having beaten Atletico Madrid in their opening fixture.
The emphatic victory provided a timely boost for manager Andoni Iraola following Liverpool’s first defeat in eight matches under his leadership, a 3-0 loss to Premier League leaders Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.
Iraola had expressed his full confidence in Barcola and Florian Wirtz earlier in the week, despite the latter’s struggles since joining from Bayer Leverkusen last year.
With Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai all missing the trip to Austria through injury, pressure had mounted on Wirtz and Barcola to shoulder the attacking responsibility.
Both players responded with an encouraging display, showcasing the quality that had prompted Liverpool to invest heavily in their services.
Iraola will now expect them to maintain that level of performance consistently as Liverpool navigate a demanding fixture schedule.
The trip to Linz was the second of six matches in 18 days, prompting the manager to rotate his squad to manage fatigue.
Captain Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister and Victor Munoz were rested, while Frimpong, Kostas Tsimikas, Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha came into the starting line-up.
Clinical Barcola leads Liverpool rout
After some disjointed performances at the start of Iraola’s tenure, Liverpool produced an attacking display that offered a glimpse of their potential under the former Bournemouth manager. However, their defensive frailties remained a concern.
Araujo opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, rising above the LASK defence to power Tsimikas’s corner past goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth.
Barcola doubled the advantage just 96 seconds later, capping an incisive run into the penalty area by Ngumoha with a clinical finish beyond Jungwirth.
Liverpool continued to dominate, and Barcola struck again in the 37th minute after combining brilliantly with Wirtz.
The goal offered a timely response to criticism of both attackers, with Barcola finding Wirtz before the German midfielder returned a precise pass that allowed the Frenchman to fire home.
Frimpong made it 4-0 in the 51st minute, providing a welcome moment for the Dutch right-back, who had also struggled to win over some Liverpool supporters since joining the club last year.
Tsimikas reached the byline and delivered a cross towards Frimpong, who rose to head the ball into the bottom corner.
LASK pulled one back in the 63rd minute through Robert Ljubicic, who calmly converted Yvan Dibango’s pass.
Barcola restored Liverpool’s four-goal cushion three minutes later, completing his hat-trick with a composed finish from Frimpong’s pass.
Koumas added Liverpool’s sixth in the 72nd minute, unleashing a powerful strike after being set up by Frimpong.
Despite the introduction of Van Dijk and fellow defender Joe Gomez, Liverpool lost their defensive organisation in the closing stages.
Florian Flecker punished their slack defending with a diving header in the 74th minute before scoring again from close range in the 77th.
The late goals exposed Liverpool’s lingering defensive problems, but they could not overshadow Barcola’s breakthrough performance as the forward finally made his mark in a Liverpool shirt.
AFP
