Aston Villa 1 Liverpool 2: This has been a season of setbacks for Aston Villa yet in the context of their fight to stay in the Premier League this could prove the most severe. Dumped into the relegation zone following Wigan's win against Norwich on Saturday, the hosts looked set to haul themselves back into safety following Christian Benteke's first-half goal only to collapse in alarming fashion after the interval with two goals conceded in what felt like a blink of an eye.
It has been a all too familiar turn of events for this raw and reckless young Villa side and it was no surprise to see the young centre-back Nathan Baker at fault for the goal which ultimately sealed Liverpool's victory here, the defender hacking down Luis Suárez in the area on 59 minutes and giving the referee, Lee Mason, no option but to award Brendan Rodgers's side a penalty that Steven Gerrard duly converted.
A little over 10 minutes earlier Jordan Henderson had put Liverpool back on level terms as Villa's defence parted to allow the midfielder to collect Phillpe Coutinho's quick through ball. Paul Lambert's side has not kept a clean sheet since December 8th and if they continue to defend as they did here they may not do so again until they are playing in the Championship next season.
Coming into this match on the back of two successive victories it was no surprise to see Lambert make just one change to his side, and that forced on the Scot with Joe Bennett replacing the injured Ciaran Clark. Liverpool's line-up, meanwhile, featured four changes to that which started in the 3-1 defeat to Southampton two weeks ago with Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Lucas Leiva and Henderson back to the fore. Perhaps scared by their abject showing at St Mary's the visitors began cautiously.
That appeared a dangerous ploy against a side with much to play for, and so it proved, as the hosts passed the ball crisply and quickly and immediately looked as if they could take the lead.
Indeed Villa could have been ahead after just four minutes had either Benteke or Gabriel Agbonlahor connected with Bennett's teasing cross. Agbonblahor did then connect with a cross from Matt Lowton 12 minutes later only to see his shot well saved by Reina from close range. Liverpool eventually made their presence felt and not surprisingly it was Luis Suarez who caused Villa the most danger.
The first half proved a frustrating period for the Uruguayan, however, as he saw Brad Guzan save two of his attempts at goal, while another was badly wasted. The visitors were made to pay for their lack of a cutting edge on 31 minutes when Benteke struck, drilling a shot past Reina from the edge of the area following Agbonlahor's deft assist off a long ball.
It was the Belgian's seventh goal in eight league games. The hosts deserved their half-time lead and so it was a shock to see them blow it within two minutes of the restart, with Henderson afforded time to clip the ball past Guzan. Glen Johnson deflected effort then struck the post as Liverpool took advantage of Villa's increasingly edgy display and the men in black were ahead just before the hour through Gerrard.
The Liverpool captain maintained that lead with an excellent clearing header six minutes later, after Benteke was allowed to head Westwood's corner at goal, and the visitors eventually saw the game out to record a fourth victory in five matches. Their afternoon could have ended bleakly, however, had Henderson suffered serious injury following a reckless knee-high tackle from Westwood.
Guardian Service
