Liverpool beat Aston Villa to move five points clear at the top of Premier League
One of the toughest away assignments in world football came at a poor time for Unai Emery’s men, who arrived on Merseyside after suffering three successive defeats across as many competitions.
There was no sign of an inferiority complex in the visitors’ play during a lively opening quarter-hour, though they were caught cold from their own corner on 20 minutes as Liverpool drew first blood.
Virgil van Dijk triggered the breakaway, feeding Mohamed Salah, who was hauled down by the retreating Leon Bailey, only for Darwin Núñez to pounce on the loose ball and round Emiliano Martínez and finish from a tight angle.
Arne Slot’s men suffered a blow after going ahead with Trent Alexander-Arnold forced off injured, and Ollie Watkins nearly capitalised on a rare moment of disorganisation among the hosts’ defenders, but he could only drag his shot wide.
Opposite number Núñez then fluffed his lines by firing high and wide on another breakaway, before Liverpool were indebted to stand-in goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher for a fine pair of reflex saves to keep out headers from Amadou Onana and Diego Carlos.
While the hosts held a lead, the threat Villa posed was all too clear to an anxious Anfield crowd, whose nerves weren’t helped when Morgan Rogers spurned a presentable chance within a minute of the restart.
The home faithful duly rallied, and they were nearly rewarded immediately as Andrew Robertson’s cross found Núñez, but the Uruguayan headed wide of the near post.
It was the travelling contingent up in arms on the hour though, as they were left aggrieved at not winning a penalty when Conor Bradley pulled Pau Torres’ shirt to bring the Spaniard to the ground from a set-piece.
A string of substitutions stemmed the flow of attacks at both ends, yet with Villa primed to pile on the pressure going into the closing stages, it was Liverpool who delivered a sucker punch to seal victory.
It was another lightning break that carved the Villa defence open, as Carlos’ header was intercepted by Salah, who raced away to slot past Martínez and score for the eighth time in 10 meetings with the Villans.
Slot therefore becomes just the fourth manager in PL history to win nine of his first 11 games in the dugout, while Villa lose a fourth game in succession to mark an unhappy 100th match at the helm for Emery.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
