Ronald Araujo marked his first Liverpool goal with a decisive set-piece contribution as the Reds opened the scoring away to LASK on Wednesday in the second matchday of the Champions League league phase.
The Uruguay international, on loan from Barcelona, was used in central defence rather than at full-back. With Virgil van Dijk among the substitutes as Andoni Iraola rotated his side, Araujo partnered young defender Jérémy Jacquet in the middle.
Quick facts
- Competition: Champions League, league phase, matchday two.
- Venue: LASK’s home ground in Austria.
- Ronald Araujo scored his first goal for Liverpool.
- The defender headed in a Kostas Tsimikas corner in the 22nd minute.
- Bradley Barcola added goals in the 24th and 37th minutes, his first for the club.
Araujo stepped forward for a corner in the 22nd minute and met Tsimikas’ delivery with a header to give Liverpool the lead. It was the kind of aerial finish regularly associated with Van Dijk, whose place in the starting line-up had been taken by the Uruguayan.
Liverpool quickly strengthened their position. Barcola struck two minutes after Araujo’s opener, then scored again in the 37th minute to complete a personal first for the Reds as well.
For Araujo, the night in Austria brought an early landmark in his Liverpool spell: a first goal in red, scored while filling a central-defensive role in a rotated Champions League side.
