Liverpool and Luis Díaz saw their patience rewarded by beating Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 in the Champions League, extending their unbeaten run against the German side to 14 matches.
Coach Xabi Alonso was given a warm welcome before kick-off, and things calmed down after Danny Makkelie started the game.
Victor Boniface and Cody Gakpo failed to deceive the respective goalkeepers on their first attempts, before Curtis Jones and Edmond Tapsoba each made a first save.
Granit Xhaka and Trent Alexander-Arnold then sent in what could have been more threatening strikes, but Virgil van Dijk and Jonathan Tah were well placed to block them.
Most of the first half passed without any notable action in the penalty area, but there was a surge before the break. Díaz provoked Xhaka who committed the foul at the edge of the Die Werkself area, but Alexander-Arnold's free kick which followed was deflected by the wall.
Mohamed Salah and Gakpo then created promising chances before Lukas Hradecky pushed them away.
Between these two attempts, Jeremie Frimpong beat Caoimhín Kelleher with a strike which proved inconsequential, the Dutchman having touched the ball with his hand.
After the restart, Leverkusen continued to cause problems for their hosts, until Ryan Gravenberch infiltrated the crowd to serve Salah, but the ball went wide of the target due to an unconvincing move from the right boot of the Egyptian.
Soon after, Díaz was much more precise, latching onto a perfectly measured pass from Jones and placing a delicate flick over Hradecky.
After 61 minutes of waiting for Liverpool's first goal, it took just two minutes for the second to be scored, Gakpo heading home a Salah cross after being kept in an offside position by Piero Hincapié.
Díaz then added some more sparkle to the scoreline for Liverpool in the final moments.
The Colombian got rid of Jonas Hofmann to control Salah's cross and finish, then he capitalized on Hincapié's dismissal of a Darwin Núñez strike which returned to him to offer himself a hat-trick, the Reds thus winning their 14th victory in 16 matches under the direction of Arne Slot.
The Reds picked up their 14th win in 16 matches under Arne Slot, giving them a perfect CL record and topping the table for now, while Leverkusen are winless his last two European matches.
Flashscore Man of the match: Luis Díaz (Liverpool)
