Lewis Koumas
Lewis Koumas
Liverpool responded to their defeat by Manchester City with a 6-3 win at LASK in the Champions League on Wednesday. The result gave the Reds two wins from two in this season’s league phase.
City won 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, Liverpool’s first league defeat of the season, Ryan Gravenberch was sent off in the 62nd minute for a second booking.
The defeat left Liverpool ninth with nine points from six games, while City lead on 18.
Iraola, who replaced Arne Slot in the summer, made changes for the trip to Linz and rested Virgil van Dijk from the start.
Liverpool attacked from the first half. They had 19 shots before the break, the most by an away team in a Champions League half on record. Ronald Araujo opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, heading in Kostas Tsimikas’ corner.
Lewis Koumas set up Bradley Barcola for the second goal within 96 seconds. Barcola added a second from Florian Wirtz’s pass in the 37th minute, and Jeremie Frimpong headed in a fourth six minutes after the restart.
Robert Ljubicic pulled one back for LASK in the 63rd minute. Barcola restored the four-goal cushion three minutes later, meeting Frimpong’s cross for his first senior hat-trick.
Koumas then scored in the 72nd minute, tucking another Frimpong cross past goalkeeper Lukas Jungwirth. LASK replied through Florian Flecker’s goals in the 74th and 77th minutes, both set up by Yvan Dibango.
The goal and assist put Koumas in the record books. He became only the second player aged 21 or younger to score and assist in a Champions League match for the club, after Steven Gerrard against Dynamo Kyiv in October 2001.
Opta added that Koumas is the youngest to do it, at 21 years and 25 days. Gerrard was 21 years and 139 days old in Kyiv.
Koumas had two efforts ruled out for offside before he scored. He said afterwards that a striker cannot dwell on missed chances and must stay level-headed.
“It’s huge [the opportunity to start],” Lewis Koumas said post-match. “To get the chance is one thing and then to take it is another. Really happy with tonight, it shows that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and work hard.”
“I knew Jeremie [Frimpong] was going to cross it because he had a lot of space. I just focused on contact as the ball bounced and tried to hit the target.”
The performance followed a busy week for the 21-year-old Wales international. He made his Champions League debut as a late substitute in the 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid in September, and made his first Premier League start against City.
Lewis Koumas joined the Liverpool academy at 11 from Tranmere Rovers. He spent loan spells at Stoke City, Birmingham City and Hull City before returning this season.
Liverpool visit Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday. They host Villarreal in the Champions League at Anfield on Tuesday, 20 October.
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