Liverpool returned to winning ways in the Premier League by overcoming Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield on Saturday night.
The Reds snapped a four-game losing run in the competition with goals in either half from Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch.
Salah came up with his 250th goal for the club to open the scoring in first-half stoppage time, before Gravenberch wrapped up the points prior to the hour mark.
Team
Gravenberch returned from injury to start as Andy Robertson and Alexis Mac Allister were the only players remaining in the XI from the Carabao Cup tie with Crystal Palace earlier in the week.
First half
A lively atmosphere was the soundtrack to a pulsating opening period, albeit the goal came at the end of it.
One could have arrived in the fifth minute and for the visitors, however, when Morgan Rogers cut inside and struck the post.
Dominik Szoboszlai drove fractionally wide from distance before Salah crossed for Cody Gakpo, whose header back across the box was just beyond the stretch of Hugo Ekitike.
Giorgi Mamardashvili pulled off a pair of saves in quick succession, tipping a deflected Matty Cash shot onto the woodwork and then palming away a Rogers hit.
Szoboszlai’s pressing and pinching of possession from the toes of Pau Torres presented him with an opportunity in front of goal, but he got the finish all wrong and made it comfortable for Emi Martinez. The No.8’s well-struck free-kick 10 minutes later forced the Villa goalkeeper into another intervention.
The Reds thought they had their lead in minute 43 after Ekitike nodded in a whipped cross from Szoboszlai. VAR quickly intervened to chalk it off, though, as the attacker was offside when the ball was played.
But Salah ensured his side would enter the break with the advantage they had been seeking.
The Egyptian was alert to a loose pass out from Martinez and finished into an unguarded net.
Second half
The advantage was doubled 13 minutes after the restart.
Collecting a pass from Mac Allister, Gravenberch was encouraged by the home crowd to drive at goal and then take aim.
He obliged with his left foot and watched the strike take a nick off Torres’ boot to wrong-foot Martinez.
Substitutes Donyell Malen, Ross Barkley and Jadon Sancho had attempts for Villa later on in the half as they searched for a route back into the contest.
But no hope of salvaging something was offered by the Reds, who worked hard to preserve their clean sheet.
SOURCE: www.liverpoolfc.com
No comments:
Post a Comment