Liverpool FC 3-2 Aston Villa FC – Match report and opinion
Liverpool returned to winning ways at Anfield this afternoon with a victory over visitors Aston Villa. An early goal on 60 seconds and a second half brace for Daniel Sturridge was enough to stave off two goals from Rudy Gestede and give Brendan Rodgers’s side a well earned victory and remove some of the pressure from the last week or two.
The goals conceded after being 2-0 and 3-1 up made for a tough finish. The hosts, to their credit didn’t withdraw into their shells but kept plugging away in search of a fourth. It has to be said that this team looks an entirely different proposition with Daniel Sturridge in it. There seems to be more courage, more invention and of course, more goals.
The England international making only his second start since March scored his first on 59 minutes after a one-two with James Milner and a deft volleyed finish with the outside of his left boot, fizzing the ball past the helpless Brad Guzan. Gestede pulled one back for the visitors within 10 minutes as he latched onto Alan Hutton’s drilled centre to power past Simon Mignolet. Terrible defending as Alan Hanson would have called it – which indicates there is still plenty of work to be done in that end of the team.
The second for Sturridge was another well worked effort having received Philippe Coutinho’s cheeky back heel to slot into the bottom corner. Gestede pulled another back for Villa four minutes later with an absolute top-drawer powerful header to turn in Jordan Amavi’s absolute top-drawer cross. No complaints with this effort. Even Mamadou Sakho was unceremoniously brushed aside, such was his compatriot’s determination and strength to meet the ball.
Liverpool pushed forward sensing that another goal would be needed to finish the game off. A ploy that told us two things. Firstly, they haven’t learned from their stuffings at the hands of Crystal Palace and West Ham where on both occasions, they were caught out numerous times whilst they pushed for another goal.
Is this enough to save Rodgers? It’s difficult to say. In my opinion, probably not. With away fixtures against Everton and Tottenham coming up, plus the trip to Southampton, it’ll take a Houdini-esque effort to get himself and the team out of the current mire they find themselves in. I’d even go so far as to say that Fenway Sports Group have likely already lined up the Northern Irishman’s replacement but, time will tell. It’s reasonable to assume the damage has already been done. Rodgers definitely isn’t out of the woods for now that’s for sure.
Overall, by Liverpool’s current standards, this was a very positive performance. The resolution of the players to get a result was obvious to see. The Reality is that Daniel Sturridge was the difference between two fairly average sides today. That made for an entertaining game, in any case. Such was Rodger’s desperation that the 26 year-old remained on the pitch until the 94th minute, despite being clearly completely knackered which for me was pretty reckless considering Sturridge is the only established and reliable striker the team has right now.
Next up is the visit of FC Sion on Thursday evening in the Europa League, kicking off at the odd time of 8:05pm. Rodgers clings on to his job by the skin of his teeth right now. The players have finally shown some semblance of a team at last which isn’t a moment too soon. Let’s hope it stays that way.
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