Premier League, Saturday 10th January 2004, Anfield, 12:45pm
Liverpool FC 1-0 Aston Villa
Referee: Graham Barber H-T: 1-0 Att: 43,771
Match Report
Liverpool secured a third win in a week as they beat Aston Villa at Anfield courtesy of a Mark Delaney own goal.
Dealaney inadvertently steered the ball in after 35 minutes while under pressure from Danny Murphy as the pair challenged for a Harry Kewell cross.The home side missed chances to add to their lead and had to defend resolutely to keep a battling Villa at bay.
Liverpool were also boosted by the return of Michael Owen and he hit the bar from point blank range.
Owen was returning to the Liverpool side for the first time since 27 November and he was looking rusty in front of goal.
He produced an extraordinary miss after 11 minutes when he hit the woodwork from barely two yards out after Heskey's header from a El-Hadji Diouf cross.
Paul Jones was making his debut in goal for the Anfield side and he proved his worth with an excellent diving save from Darius Vassell's well-struck shot following a mistake by Igor Biscan.
But Liverpool were beginning to gain a stranglehold on the match and Jlloyd Samuel almost scored an own goal from a threatening Kewell cross.
Another Kewell cross again troubled the Villa defence minutes later and, this time, Delaney and Murphy went up at the far post to steer the ball into the visitors net.
Villa were dealt a blow with Gavin McCann going off injured and he was replaced by Thomas Hitzlsperger.
Owen's lack of sharpness again showed itself on the stroke of half-time when any kind of decent touch would have seen him convert Murphy's inswinging free-kick.
The home side could have extended their lead after the break only for Olof Mellberg's quick-thinking to stop Owen having a one-on-one with Villa keeper Thomas Sorensen.
Heskey was the next to get a sight of the opposition goal when he produced a surging run into the visitors box but he fell at the final hurdle as he prepared to shoot.
The Merseysiders were creating chances without taking them with Diouf particularly impressive in his last game before heading off to the African Nations Cup.
But Liverpool ended the game defending in numbers and Stefan Moore shot wide as a late Villa rally almost stole a point for the Midlanders.
| Team Line-Up's | |
| Liverpool | Aston Villa |
| Jones | Sorensen |
| Henchoz | Delaney |
| Hyypia | Dublin |
| Biscan | Mellberg |
| Riise | Samuel |
| Diouf | Hendrie |
| Murphy | McCann |
| Hamann | Whittingham |
| Kewell | Barry |
| Owen | Vassell |
| Heskey | Angel |
| Substitutes | Substitutes |
| Luzi | Postma |
| Le Tallec | De La Cruz |
| Traore | Johnsen |
| Cheyrou | Hitzlsperger |
| Sinama-Pongolle | Moore |
| Substitutions | |
| Hitzlsperger for McCann 40' | |
| Vassell for Moore 45' | |
| Johnsen for Hendrie 68' | |
| Sinama-Pongolle for Owen 73' | |
| Cheyrou for Diouf 82' | |
Goals |
|
| Delaney OG 36' | |
Yellow Cards |
|
| Diouf | McCann |
| Kewell | Hizlsperger |
| Hamann | |
Red Cards |
|
| Referee | |
| Graham Barber | |
| Attendance | |
| 43,771 | |
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