Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houiller endured a nightmare return to Anfield last night as his poor Aston Villa side were comfortably defeated by an under-strength Liverpool. The 63-year old treble winning Frenchman will have enjoyed and appreciated the warm reception he received from the Kop prior to kick off, however he had little else to please him from a match that saw Roy's Reds sweep past the struggling Villains.
After his impressive performance in the Europa League on Thursday Ryan Babel was afforded the opportunity to start alongside David Ngog up front as Fernando Torres missed out altogether due to the impending birth of his second son. Lucas and Meireles continued to develop their blossoming partnership in the centre of midfield as Hodgson stuck with the 4-4-2 formation that had proved so successful against West Ham United in Liverpool's last league outing at Anfield.
Despite of the attacking formation deployed the opening stages were scrappy. After three minutes Dirk Kuyt shot wide from 15 yards after the breakdown of Meireles' free kick, however neither goal was really threatened until the quarter hour mark when the game came alive with two well crafted goals in quick succession for the home side.
After 14 minutes Meireles swung a promising corner into the box after Ngog and Babel had combined to win the set piece. Martin Skrtel excellently escaped his marker to power the ball across goal where David Ngog was there to nod the ball past ex Liverpool keeper Brad Friedel with a superb diving header.
An early goal was exactly what Liverpool needed to provide crucial confidence for the rest of the contest. That belief was doubled only two minutes later when Babel latched onto Lucas' brilliant ball over the top of the Villa defence and fired a fantastic volley beyond Brad Friedel.
It was an unbelievably good goal from the enigmatic Dutchman as he excellently managed to spin away from his marker and strike a scintillating shot across goal and into the net within the same movement. Although there was a hint of offside the 23-year old deserved a stroke of fortune after the torrid time he has endured on Merseyside over the last few years.
The away side failed to make any sort of an impact during the first half and the only half-chance they created saw Dunne's header loop well over the bar after the Irishman had reached Downing's corner midway through the first 45 minutes.
Disappointingly Liverpool also failed to seriously test the visitors' defence, with Kyrgiakos heading Meireles' chipped free kick over at the back post before Meireles assisted once again to set up Babel as he steered a shot wide after receiving an excellent pass from the Portugal international.
Apart from that the Reds couldn't pressurise the Villa defence or build on their advantage, leaving Hodgson disappointed that his side had failed to capitalise on their early dominance and went in with only a two-goal lead.
The Midlanders then came out for the second half purposefully searching for a goal to get them back into the match, and one nearly arrived only eight minutes in when Reina had to be on top-form to deny Agbonlahor from point-blank range after Stewart Downing had picked out his team-mate in the penalty area.
Some supporters were slightly worried at this point because Villa had held the initiative since the beginning of the second period, however those fears were squashed only two minutes later as Liverpool brilliantly added a third. Reina quickly bowled the ball down the centre of the pitch for Maxi Rodriguez, who proceeded to play a one-two with David Ngog. The Argentine then fired magnificently into the top right hand corner from 12-yards to leave Friedel with no chance.
The well worked team goal from Liverpool arrived at the perfect time as Aston Villa were just starting to keep the ball and exert some pressure on Pepe Reina's goal. Not only did the third goal relieve the pressure on our defence, but the assurance of victory that it brought also took away the desire to sit deep and defend that has so often consumed Hodgson's side recently.
This allowed Glen Johnson to maraud forward from right back as he took advantage of the freedom granted by a comfortable lead. On 69 minutes Johnson jinked beyond two Villa defenders and into the box only to see his powerful strike beaten away by Friedel. Three minutes later he went close again when his drilled effort flew over the crossbar after Maxi's intelligent pass had sent the England right back racing into the box.
Liverpool continued to control proceedings and probed the Villa defence looking for extra goals to build up our flailing goal difference. With 15 minutes remaining Aston Villa's young midfielder Jonathan Hogg was forced to head off the line after Kyrgiakos reached Meireles' corner and powered the ball goalwards. The ball was then worked back into the box by the hosts, however unfortunately Skrtel could only shoot over the bar.
Hogg then blocked Lucas’ effort from the edge of the box after the ball had broken for the much-improved Brazilian midfielder. After that Downing's shot was blocked in the 89 minute, sparking a final rapid counter-attack from the Reds. Ngog played a one-two with Johnson before attempting to release Liverpool's number 2 however he lost control of the ball at the critical moment and the promising opening had disappeared.
This comfortable and convincing victory over a potential rival for a European spot not only boosts our confidence ahead of a typically busy Christmas schedule, but also proves that we can win games without key stars Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.
Pepe Reina performed well throughout as the Spaniard secured the impressive record of being the fastest Liverpool keeper to reach the landmark figure of 100 clean sheets in the League. Ryan Babel demonstrated his ability in a central role and also combined well with David Ngog, who added yet another goal to his already enviable goalscoring record.
Raul Meireles and Lucas Leiva also impressed in the centre as they controlled the match easily and gelled well together. Neither was classified as "defensive" and yet both managed to share the workload and direct Liverpool's play from the heart of the team.
These players stepped up to the plate and showed their worth. They must continue to do this to help us challenge for an all important top four finish. Also, if they are to remain in Roy Hodgson's short and long-term plans then they must regularly show that they can fill the void often left by our big name players through injury.
Liverpool now lie eighth in the table and travel to the snowy North East to face managerless Newcastle United on Sunday. With Newcastle reeling after the departure of Chris Hughton it will be the perfect opportunity to improve our miserable record on the road.
If we have any serious aspirations of qualifying for the Champions League then three points are a must.
YNWA
No comments:
Post a Comment