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Liverpool maintained their strong start to the season after beating LASK in the Europa League, though the performance was anything but convincing.
Jurgen Klopp fielded a fairly strong side, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez all starting. But they made hard work of things against a side who finished last season nearly 20 points behind Austrian league winners Red Bull Salzburg.
LASK took the lead after just 14 minutes after Florian Flecker lashed one in from 25 yards, but Darwin Nunez, who spurned a glaring chance to equalise in the first half after seeing his point-blank header saved, levelled the score from the penalty spot just over 10 minutes after the restart.
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He then brought on summer signings Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai to sure things up in midfield, moments after LASK nearly re-took the lead following a swift breakaway. Minutes later, Liverpool went in front after Diaz turned an absolutely gorgeous Ryan Gravenberch into the net from close range.
The Dutch midfielder, who joined Liverpool from Bayern Munich on deadline day, was making his first start for the club, having come on as second half sub in their 3-1 win over Wolves last week. Klopp has been messing around with a number of different combinations in midfield this season, but it'll be hard to drop Gravenberch for Sunday's clash with West Ham on tonight's evidence.
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Second half substitute Mo Salah then made it 3-1 late on after weaving his way through the box and poking the ball under the keeper. The result means Liverpool have won five of their first six matches this season, and has put them in a commanding position in their Europa League group ahead of games against Union Saint-Gilloise and Toulouse next month.
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Tonight was the club's first match in the Europa League since losing to Sevilla in the final of the competition in 2016. It came at the end of Klopp's first season at the helm, and was the second final they lost that season following their penalty shootout defeat to Manchester City in the League Cup showpiece a few months earlier.
- Liverpool FC
- Europa League
- Jurgen Klopp
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