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Match report: Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa
ShareArne Slot’s reaction
What I liked most was that the players and the fans all felt the importance of the game – that this was the moment to show we are still there.
We were ready for it today – against a team, by the way, that was in very, very good form. It’s a good result.
The margins sre small in the Premier League, you see it in every game – it was the same today. We didn’t concede from a set-piece, which is very helpful if you want to win football matches, especially in the Premier League at the moment.
The midfield were very good, as a team and individually. There were some other outstanding performances as well.
[On Ryan Gravenberch] We’ll see how his ankle feels. I think he’s able to go again [against Real Madrid], but we’ll have to see.
[On Mo Salah] Mo scores, again, which is not a surprise to anyone I think. But I also liked that he was strong every time we played long balls towards him and he helped his team out defensively. This is the Mo that I, we, he himself want to see.
We have to be very, very, very good against Real Madrid. It’s another challenge but one to look forward to.
ShareMo Salah’s reaction
It’s a very important win – we’ve had some losses but I’m glad we’re coming back ahead of some important games.
[Are you happy with how your season has started?] Nah, but I know football I said from the beginning it’s a tricky season for us because we have a few new players. Very good signings but they need time to adapt, and we lost some good players as well. We just need time. I think we’ll be fine.
[On reaching 250 goals for Liverpool] It’s a great feeling to sacore goals and win trophies for such a big club. I don’t take it for granted. I’m so proud.
ShareFull time: Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa
A rousing victory for Liverpool, who jump to third in the table after ending a run of four straight league defeats. Mo Salah scored his 250th goal for Liverpool after an errant pass –less charitable adjectives are available – by Emi Martinez on the stroke of half-time. Ryan Gravenberch scored the second on his return to the side.
It was a fun game, played at a furious pace. Villa hit the post twice at 0-0, once after a great save from Giorgi Mamardashvili, while there were several near misses at the other end.
It’s too early to say Liverpool are back, not least because their next two games are against Real Madrid and Manchester City, but this was arguably their best performance of the season.
90+2 min The Villa sub Tyrone Mings has gone off holding his hamstring, so they will be down to ten for the last couple of minutes. Poor guy has had no luck at all with injury.
90+1 min Four minutes of added time.
90 min Plenty of late pressure from Villa, with Sancho looking good on the left since coming on as substitute. Despite this result, their season is on an upward trajectory.
87 min Szoboszlai and … Unai Emery are booked after a row over a throw-in.
84 min “Given that Liverpool are playing well and up to third in the table, to whom does the coveted title of Bald Fraud™ pass?” wonders Kári Tulinius. “Nuno? I suppose if Bournemouth win tomorrow, it can be reclaimed by the original Bald Fraud™.”
I’ll have it. I always wanted to win something.
82 min “Wonderful to get two sports for the price of one in the same contest,” writes Colum Fordham. “The wrestling match between Mac Allister and Onana added to the fun of seeing the renewed intensity of a Liverpool side that has been out of sorts for the last four or five weeks. Slot out? Surely not! Hopefully the tide has turned and Liverpool have cashed in on Villa’s profligacy.”
Anyone who wanted Slot to be sacked after a few defeats should be banned from offering an opinion on football for the next five years.
Updated at 17.45 EDT
80 min Rogers is booked for dissent.
80 min Gakpo has a shot blocked and Villa break through Rogers. The move peters out but Villa have come to life in the last few minutes and a goal would make things interesting.
Updated at 17.43 EDT
79 min Sancho runs at Bradley and guides a neat pass into Barkley, 15 yards from goal. He shoots high and wide on the turn. Tough chance but classy play from Sancho, whose ceiling, though rarely visible, remains so high.
78 min: Liverpool substitution Florian Wirtz comes on for the impressive and hugely popular Hugo Ekitike.
76 min Ekitike backheels the ball to Robertson, whose brilliant cross is taken off Salah’s head by Maatsen at the far post. Superb defending.
75 min: Double substitution for Villa Jadon Sancho, Tyrone Mings and Ian Maatsen replace Lucas Digne, Ollie Watkins and Pau Torres.
74 min Mac Allister goes down again before the corner is taken. Then, when it is swung in, Onana is penalised for a foul on Mac Allister. They were basically re-enacting Hulk Hogan v Andre the Giant circa 1987.
73 min Villa win a corner on the right. Before it can be taken, Onana shoves Mac Allister over by the neck. He’s booked and VAR upholds the decision; that could easily have been a red card.
71 min The XI picked by Arne Slot tonight is much closer to last season’s, with Giorgio Mamardashvili and Hugo Ekitike the only new players, and it’s probably no coincidence that Liverpool have produced their best performance of this season. Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak are far too good to fail, but their integration may take longer than we envisaged.
Updated at 17.37 EDT
70 min Malen almost changes the mood – and the scoreline – with a fierce shot that swerves not far wide of the near post. I suspect Mamardashvili had it covered though.
68 min So anyway, Slot out?
65 min Watkins fresh-airs an awkward volley from the left side of the box. Villa have contributed so much to this game but right now they look a beaten team.
63 min Liverpool rode their luck at times in the first half, when Villa hit the post twice, but overall their performance has been superb. While the result was always the most important thing tonight, this performance – full of the intensity and quality we saw throughout last season – feels like a palate-cleanser.
61 min “Stay focused for 90 minutes?” sniffs Simon McMahon. “I can barely concentrate for more than five these days, which is why I’m following the MBM at the same time as watching Girlbands Forever on telly, listening to the radio, writing emails, talking to cats and pouring large whiskies. Could Martinez do that?”
The pass for Salah’s goal made it look like he’d been on the whisky!!!!!! #roflcopter.
Updated at 17.30 EDT
59 min: Double substitution for Villa Ross Barkley and Donyell Malen replace John McGinn and Evann Guessand.
After a couple of crisp passes, Gravenberch veered from right to centre and tried his luck from the edge of the D. His luck was in: the left-foot shot took a deflection and wrongfooted Martinez.
ShareGOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa (Gravenberch 58)
Ryan Gravenberch, back in the side to keep Liverpool’s sheet clean, helps sully Villa’s by scoring the second goal.
Ryan Gravenberch scores via a deflection. Photograph: Carl Recine/Getty ImagesRyan Gravenberch enjoys his moment. Photograph: Carl Recine/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 17.25 EDT
57 min Cash is booked, I think for a foul on Ekitike.
54 min Rogers rolls Van Dijk, who bundles him over and is booked. Rogers is some footballer.
53 min Martinez makes a fine save to deny Bradley, though it wouldn’t have counted because Salah was offside in the build-up. Salah did brilliantly to head Gakpo’s cross back towards Bradley but he was a long way offside.
51 min Cash tries to curve an imaginative pass around the defence to put Guessand throug on goal. The sliding Robertson makes an important interception and, because it wasn’t a backpass, Mamardashvili is safe to pick the ball up.
49 min “Martinez is a good keeper, but he seems unable to stay focused for 90 minutes these days,” writes Kári Tulinius. “Marco Bizot is also a good keeper, who was great for Brest, and were I Unai Emery, I’d give him a run in goal for Villa.”
48 min Gakpo miscontrols a Salah pass right in front of goal. He was offside, though, and that’s probably why he lost concentration as it was a simple ball to control.
48 min A relatively quiet start to the second half.
47 min “The best half of attacking football Liverpool have played this season,” writes Matt Dony. “By a long way. You get the impression they’ll need to score one or two more to secure the victory, as Villa clearly have a couple of goals in them. But that’s encouraging. Also, a reminder of just how ridiculous Ian ‘Didn’t Even Take Penalties’ Rush’s goalscoring figures were. Wales have been blessed with some genuinely unbelievable players, but never enough at one time. And often in similar positions. Annoyingly.”
46 min Liverpool get the second half under way.
Half-time reading
All together now: Fashion, turn to the left…
ShareHalf time: Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa
Fast, furious entertainment at Anfield. Villa hit the post twice, but Liverpool dominated possession and threatened regularly before Mo Salah punished a terrible pass from Emi Martinez.
Oh Emi! Photograph: Daniel Chesterton/Offside/Getty Images
See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
Updated at 16.56 EDT
45+3 min Only Ian Rush (346) and Roger Hunt (285) have scored more goals for Liverpool than Mo Salah.
Mo Salah scores his 250th goal for Liverpool after a rank howler from Emi Martinez. He tried to pass the ball to Pau Torres on the left the Villa area, got his angles wrong and gave the ball straight to Salah. He guided an instant shot around Pau Torres and into the empty net with his right foot.
Updated at 16.50 EDT
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa (Salah 45+2)
And now he’s back on the scoresheet!
Mo Salah celebrates after being gifted a goal by the Villa ‘keeper. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 16.55 EDT
45 min Salah slips Digne superbly, only for Onana to get back and put out the burgeoning fire. Salah has shown glimpses of his best tonight, particularly with those quick touches to evade an incoming defender.
ShareNo goal! Liverpool 0-0 Aston Villa
Yep, Ekitike was offside. Just before the disallowed goal, no more than ten seconds, Konsa lunged to make a brilliant block from Mac Allister’s shot.
Updated at 16.46 EDT
Hang on, this looks offside. It was an excellent downward header from Szoboszlai’s cross but it will be ruled out.
Updated at 16.45 EDT
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa (Ekitike 43)
At one end or another, a goal was coming!
39 min Watkins is bundled over 30-odd yards from goal after a sinuous run infield. Cash drives the free-kick well wide.
Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch conspire to take out Ollie Watkins. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PAShare
Updated at 16.59 EDT
38 min Robertson’s free-kick is fractionally too high for Konate at the far post; his header thus goes well wide.
36 min Gakpo’s snapshot is blocked by Cash after a quick Liverpool move.
35 min Plenty of Liverpool pressure now. The first goal is always important but tonight it feels positively Brobdingnagian, Clive.