Aston Villa denied Liverpool from going ten points clear at the top of the Premier League table as they played out a captivating 2-2 draw at Villa Park.
An end-to-end encounter saw Liverpool take the lead thanks to their talisman, Mohamed Salah, who was gifted a goal courtesy of poor back pass from Aston Villa’s Andrés Garcia.
The home side quickly turned it around, scoring two goals just before the break as Youri Tielemans initially equalised for Villa following a chaotic free-kick where Liverpool failed to clear their lines, before Ollie Watkins then gave Unai Emery’s side the lead after heading home his 12th goal of the season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold equalised on the hour mark after his strike took a cruel deflection to beat Emiliano Martínez.
As it happened
As a result of Liverpool’s Carabao Cup commitments in March, this game had been brought forward on short notice to add to both sides’ hectic schedules. However, they delivered one of the most enthralling games of the season, dispelling any idea that either team was running out of steam at a crucial stage of the campaign.
The Reds raced out of the blocks. Diogo Jota had the best of the chances Liverpool created from their early spell of pressure; he had an effort superbly blocked by Tyrone Mings before heading wide from a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross.
Villa, under the cosh, managed to weather the early Liverpool storm and generated the first big moment of the match. A neat combination between Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio led to Virgil van Dijk turning the ball into his own net. To his relief though, the offside flag went up to deny Villa the opener.
With the game evenly poised, Villa then gifted the away side the lead in the 29th minute. Andrés Garcia carelessly gave the ball away to Jota, allowing him to turn and run at goal. The Portuguese forward unselfishly squared it to Mohamed Salah who lifted his effort into the roof of the net for his 24th Premier League goal of the season.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe frantic nature of the game continued and ten minutes after conceding, Villa equalised thanks to Youri Tielemans. A free-kicked was lofted into Liverpool’s box and before they could clear their lines, the ball fell to the Belgian who fired his shot into the ground and into the back of the net.
Impressively, Villa managed to turn the game around just before half-time when Ollie Watkins headed home. It was a brilliant initial piece of centre-forward play from the Englishman, who dropped deep, played it out wide and ghosted into the box. Lucas Digne then whipped a cross into the box to find an unmarked Watkins who headed it into the bottom corner past a diving Alisson.
With plenty at stake, Liverpool restarted the second half determinedly as they searched for a leveller. Just before the hour mark, Diogo Jota came close when his effort agonisingly skimmed off the bar.
Slot’s side didn’t have to wait much longer though. In the the 60th minute, Alexander-Arnold burst forward to lead a classic Liverpool counter-attack. Salah received the ball and fortuitously got past Digne before pulled it back to the Liverpool full-back. Alexander-Arnold’s strike was wickedly deflected, leaving Emiliano Martínez with no chance of preventing a Liverpool equaliser.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith the score level, both sides searched for a winner. Liverpool came closest in the 68th minute when Darwin Núñez incredibly missed an open goal. Dominik Szoboszlai had played the ball across to the Uruguayan who only had to put his effort on target to score, but he blazed his attempt over the bar. A let off for Villa but a frustrating missed opportunity for the Reds.
Towards the latter stages of the game neither side could find the elusive fifth goal of the match. Unai Emery’s side ended the game stronger and came closest to winning it in injury time. First, Morgan Rogers fired an effort off target before Donyell Malen’s low-driven shot whistled past the post.
Despite a positive performance, Aston Villa are now winless in their last five Premier League matches. A point sees them remain in ninth place, with a clash against top-four rivals, Chelsea, awaiting them on Saturday. Liverpool meanwhile extended their lead at the top to eight points but will likely feel disheartened. Consecutive 2-2 draws away from home in a week suggests that the Premier League title race is still alive.
The lineups
AST: Martínez; Digne, Mings, Disasi, García; Tielemans, McGinn; Rashford, Rogers, Asensio; Watkins
LIV: Alisson; Robertson, Van Dijk, Konaté, Alexander-Arnold; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Jones, Szoboszlai, Salah; Jota