Liverpool ended their torrid losing streak as Mohamed Salah scored his 250th goal for the club and Ryan Gravenberch netted on his return from injury in a comfortable 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield. The Reds were well worth the three points but had a slice of luck to thank as Emiliano Martinez presented Salah with an open goal to break the deadlock, before Gravenberch’s deflected strike sealed the points for a Arne Slot’s dominant side.
After six defeats in seven matches and four in a row in the league, nothing but their best was demanded of Liverpool and they showed great strides towards rediscovering just that. It was Villa who looked the more threatening in the opening quarter of an hour, though, as Morgan Rogers struck the base of the post with a fifth-minute curling drive before Giorgi Mamardashvili diverted a deflected Matty Cash cross onto the crossbar before thwarting Rogers from range.
Liverpool put the visitors under significant pressure at the other end, pressing Villa’s defence effectively and forcing mistakes, and Dominik Szoboszlai should have opened the scoring after Boubacar Kamara lost possession, but his tame strike was straight at Martinez. This would be a warning sign which Villa did not learn from, as Martinez himself presented Salah with the ball and the Egyptian accepted his gift.
Another piece of luck would see Liverpool double their lead in the second half, as Gravenberch drove into space on the edge of the box and saw his low strike deflected beyond Martinez and into the net. When the visitors did look to attack at the other end, they found a well-organised defensive unit in their way and often resorted to wayward finishing from outside the box. Unai Emery’s side were also fortunate to end the match with all 11 men after Amadou Onana appeared to grab Alexis Mac Allister by the neck during an altercation at a corner.
GOAL rates Liverpool’s players from Anfield…