Reds snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat

Tactical naivety in the first half cost Liverpool two points at home to Aston Villa yesterday.

The task of fitting the fit again Daniel Sturridge into Liverpool’s starting line-up was always going to be a difficult one for Brendan Rodgers. Unfortunately, the Northern Irishman made the wrong call yesterday evening, relegating Lucas Leiva to the substitutes’ bench and reverting to a 4-4-2 formation that meant Gerrard and Henderson were out-run in the centre of the park by Villa, whose extra man in midfield arguably made all the difference during the first 45 minutes.

Confident and purposeful, Villa, who have picked up the majority of their 24 Premier League points on the road, fulfilled their manager’s pledge to play attacking football and came to win the match, rather than just park the proverbial bus.

Passing in neat triangles and moving fluidly, the ageing Gerrard particularly seemed to struggle to keep up with Villa’s impressive midfield, which ran the show in the first period. Meanwhile, Skrtel and Toure seemed unable to cope with the physical presence of Benteke up front, whose aerial ability was exploited extensively by the away side.

From the first whistle, Villa kept possession well and created good goalscoring opportunities, Agbonlahor nudging the ball inches wide of the target after being sent through by Benteke only a minute into the match.

Westwood then drove straight at Mignolet, Weimman fired over the bar and Clark cannoned a header against the base of the post as Villa searched for the goal that would reward their dominance.

Had they failed to capitalise on their control of the contest, the Midlanders may have become demoralised and allowed the hosts back into the match. As it turned out, though, Weimman and Benteke netted twice in the space of ten minutes to put the Villains firmly in the driving seat and punish a dreadful first half performance from the Reds, who looked distinctly average playing in an unfamiliar 4-4-2.

First, Weimman ran all of 70 yards to latch onto Agbonlahor’s cross and tap home from close range to complete a speedy Villa break in style.

Weimman converts Agbonlahor's cross to break the deadlock

Agbonlahor was involved again for the second goal, although he benefitted from yet another mistake from Mignolet. The Belgian keeper should have comfortably caught or punched clear the 27-year old’s right wing cross but instead could only get his fingertips to it, allowing Benteke to stoop and head into an unguarded net in front of a frustrated Kop, who had expected a fairly routine home victory but were instead watching their team being taught a footballing lesson by the visitors.

That's two in two matches for the improving Benteke

As good as Villa were, Liverpool were equally bad. Their only notable piece of attacking play came on the stroke of half time when, thankfully, Sturridge pulled one back to halve the deficit just before the break. Suarez passed to Henderson, whose clever flick through found Sturridge and the England international lofted the ball over Guzan and into the net.

Sturridge's goal provided light at the end of the tunnel for the Reds

Arguably more important in changing the course of the game than Sturridge’s goal was the tactical changes Rodgers made at the break. Replacing Philippe Coutinho with Lucas was the right move, as it not only allowed Gerrard to play further forward, where he is clearly far more comfortable and effective, but also provided the defensive stability in midfield that Liverpool desperately missed during the first 45 minutes.

For those critics who question the impact of Lucas, the transformation in Liverpool’s performance during the twenty minutes the Brazilian was on the pitch is all the evidence they should need to recognise the often hidden role Lucas plays. Doing the simple stuff effectively, Lucas established the platform from which the Reds’ attacking players could build. We can only hope the knee injury that forced him to be replaced by Allen on 66 minutes is not a serious one.

Only seven minutes after the restart, Liverpool were level. Luis Suarez was at the centre of a controversial incident yet again, as referee Jonathan Moss pointed to the penalty spot after the Uruguayan went down under the challenge of Guzan in the box.

The number seven was vehemently accused of diving by many, although there was clearly contact and Guzan knows that he runs the risk of conceding a spot kick when he rushes out in the manner that he did. Suarez can’t be expected to hurdle that challenge and had every right to go to ground, just like any other striker would in those circumstances.

Gerrard made no mistake from the subsequent spot kick to equalise for the Reds.

Gerrard levelled the scorelines from the spot

Although they retreated significantly and clearly aimed to hold on to their point during the latter stages, Villa retained an attacking threat, Delph’s curled effort from 20-yards out only just going wide of Mignolet’s goal.

It was the home side that looked most likely to snatch a winner, though, as Suarez curled one of his classic free kicks inches wide of the post from 30 yards out with thirteen minutes remaining and then saw Guzan beat his shot away from a tight angle deep into injury time.

At the end of the day, on the balance of play a draw was a fair, if disappointing result. Villa were superb in the first half and fully deserved their two-goal lead. Liverpool, on the other hand, were frankly abysmal during the first 45 minutes, although they deserved credit for coming from behind to get something from a match they could have easily lost.

However, Liverpool can’t afford to repeat that first half performance many more times if they are to remain in contention for Champions League qualification.

YNWA