A walk in the Villa Park

Liverpool eased to their fifth away win of the season with an assured and accomplished performance at Villa Park earning them a fully deserved 2-0 victory over Alex McLeish's beleaguered Aston Villa outfit yesterday. Two goals from poorly defended corner kicks in quick succession from the ever-impressive Craig Bellamy and on-form Martin Skrtel put the visitors in the driving seat only quarter of an hour into the contest and the Villains failed to muster a response, succumbing to their third loss in five matches.

Kenny Dalglish made only two changes to the team that beat QPR the previous weekend, Craig Bellamy and Jonjo Shelvey replacing Maxi Rodriguez and Dirk Kuyt respectively, the latter making his first start since returning from a loan spell at Blackpool. Meanwhile, the hosts fielded two ex-Reds in the form of Stephen Warnock and Emile Heskey.

Former Villa winger Stewart Downing, who switched to the Reds for a sizeable £20 million in the summer, received a frosty reception from the home supporters on a bitterly cold winter's day in the Midlands. He attempted to silence the boo boys seven minutes in but his shot at goal was comfortably collected by stand-in stopper Brad Guzan.

Nevertheless, three minutes later he was involved in the opening goal, as Shelvey flicked his corner goalwards, only for Guzan to block the ball and Suarez's follow up effort. Amid the confusion in the crammed penalty area Craig Bellamy popped up seemingly from nowhere to tuck home from close range and give the Reds the lead. The Merseysiders’ dominance of the opening stages was confirmed soon after, when Bellamy clipped an inviting corner into the penalty area, where Skrtel had evaded the attention of fellow centre back Richard Dunne and excellently glanced a header into the top right hand corner.

It was a fantastic corner from Bellamy and an even better header from Skrtel, who not only appears to be developing a promising partnership with Daniel Agger but also poses a significant attacking threat from set pieces.

During that period Villa's only sight of goal came when Heskey typically squandered a good goalscoring opportunity by heading straight at Reina from close range. It wouldn't have counted anyway as the 33-year old was flagged offside. In response to the shock of conceding two goals in such quick succession the hosts hesitantly went on the attack, N'Zogbia hitting the side netting from a tight angle, Delfounseo heading over and Reina stopping Petrov's weak effort.

However, Villa and their fans were severely deflated following Liverpool's rapid beginning to the match and never seriously looked like troubling Reina or his solid and settled back four, who are the tightest Premier League defence having only been breached 12 times this campaign. Liverpool, meanwhile, continued to control the contest and create chances, Shelvey seeing his effort turned around the post by Guzan from close range after a mazy run from Luis Suarez.

The second half continued in the same pattern of the first, Agger, nose-bleeding due to his presence so close to the opposition's goal, heading inches wide from Bellamy's cross a minute after the re-start. Luis Suarez then hit the woodwork twice in search of a third to put the outcome of the clash beyond doubt. First, he smashed an effort against the underside of the cross bar from eight yards out after stealing possession from the under-performing Dunne. Then, he displayed composure to chip a delightful effort past Guzan and agonisingly against the post from just inside the box.

It just wasn't going to be the Uruguayan’s day, as yet again Liverpool frustratingly found the frame of the goal frequently.

The only real effort Villa had during the second 45 saw Reina scrambling after Fabian Delph's strike from 30 yards looped over Skrtel and over the Spaniard's head. It very nearly landed in the net but thankfully went just over. Such a slice of luck would have brought the hosts back into the match and may have acted as a catalyst for resurgence from the Villains, but fortunately that wasn't the case and the Reds remained unquestionably in the ascendancy.

Just past the hour mark Charlie Adam burst into the area, with Shelvey available to his left and Suarez free on the right. The Scot decided to go alone and saw his shot deflected inches wide off Villa defender James Collins. The game then petered out to an underwhelming conclusion as Liverpool were more than happy to retain their comfortable lead while Aston Villa appeared to have given up all hope of getting back into the match. Dalglish handed Carroll, Carragher and Kuyt substitute appearances although neither of them pulled up any trees.

Villa Park emptied swiftly while the away end rocked to the sound of jubilation and celebration from the happily satisfied travelling Kop. Unlike previous seasons, where the Reds have really struggled on the road, this campaign has seen the return of confident, encouraging and enterprising football away from home, which has crucially earned points as well.

Special mention must be reserved for Craig Bellamy, who put in another tireless display and was at the heart of the action for both goals, and Jonjo Shelvey, who impressed in his preferred role behind the lone striker. Luis Suarez also played particularly well considering the controversy surrounding him presently.

Wigan Athletic are next up on Wednesday before Blackburn Rovers travel to Anfield for our Boxing Day fixture. Six points are expected and, if we replicate this performance, should be comfortably collected. It promises to be a Christmas Cracker for Dalglish's Redmen!

YNWA

(Thanks to Samantha Wilson from Red and Proud's Facebook page for the title to this piece.)