[Liverweb] Aston Villa match report

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Liverpool won away from home for the first time this season to cap off a
fine week for the reds that seen 3 wins in a row with 7 goals scored and
none conceded. In a week which seen Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez commit to
playing Gerrard on the right in a more settled side Liverpool are at last
looking like a team that may finally be able to name its best 11 for a
sustained run.

In a rare luxury for Benitez for only the second time since he took over as
Liverpool manager he had his entire squad to call on. This, to the delight
of most Liverpool fans, seen neither Traore nor Josemi in the squad. An
unchanged side from the victory at West Ham seen Morientes and Cisse start
up front for the reds with Gerrard on the right and Garcia on the left.

The game kicked off with Liverpool attacking the Holt end housing the Villa
fans. The first 4 minutes seen both teams finding their feet with very
little in the way of chances created or possession. Liverpool then stamped
their authority on the game with some precision passing which brought back
memories of the Liverpool of old as pass and move made a rare comeback.
Villa were left ball watching as Liverpool passed and moved with quick
passing and intelligent movement. This seen Liverpool carve out the first
chance of the afternoon when a sequence of 8 or 9 nine passes which seen
Garcia shoot only inches wide. To be honest Sorenson had it covered but the
move was still a joy to watch. Liverpool continued to play around the Villa
midfield.

The first yellow card of the day seen Gareth Barry blatantly pull back
Gerrard as he looked to have broken free. Jamie Carragher played a lovely
50-yard pass which Gerrard controlled and went past Barry. The Villa
defender pulled Gerrard back, although Gerrard did not go to ground the move
was dead. Referee Steve Bennet did wave play on but within seconds the move
broke down. Bennet then produced the yellow card but I thought he should
have brought the play back and awarded the free kick.

For some strange reason on fifteen minutes the slick pass and move football
stopped and for the next five minutes Liverpool resorted to hoofing the ball
long which seen Cisse beaten to the header time after time. This allowed
Villa to re group and get themselves back into the game. Although Reina was
virtually a spectator for the first half except for an exceptional punch
clearance from a Villa corner the home side still threatened on more than
one occasion.

James Milner produced a precise through ball for Milan Baros to run onto. It
looked like he was about to slip past the Liverpool rearguard only to be
thwarted by an outstanding right footed tackle from Jamie Carragher. An
outstanding tackle from an outstanding centre half. Villa again had another
good chance on 27 minutes when a well delivered free kick was met by Kevin
Philips who glanced his header wide. Reina looked to be beaten as the ball
seemed to be heading goalwards.

Sissoko did himself no favours in this game when he was booked in the first
half. His reaction was most worrying as he spent the rest of the half
dodging every tackle that came his way and in a bizarre decision he decided
that throwing himself on the ground every time he was touched would somehow
make up for his lack of tackling or maybe save him for a red card for his
next poorly timed tackle. Unfortunately for Liverpool Hamann was not on the
bench, if he was I suspect Sissoko would have sat out the second half. While
it is clear Rafa has made the decision to blood Sissko at the expense of
Hamann I fear that he is not yet mature or composed enough to slow down a
game and beak up the play the way Hamann can.

By this stage the pattern from the game against Anderlecht had been
re-established with Liverpool in control of the game but very little goal
scoring opportunities. Once again Garcia was looking lost on the left and
while he was working hard he was being knocked off the ball too easily.
Gerrard was also cutting in a lot more than he should have. Added to that
Cisse was having a bad day at the office.

The chance of the game fell to Cisse on 32 minutes when Gerrard played a
delightful ball over the top, which left Gareth Barry clutching at thin air
as he failed to step up and then called for the flag. Cisse looked
cumbersome and flustered as he tried to take the ball down and control it
instead of hitting an instinctive shot or trying to use his pace to go
around the keeper he just smashed the ball against the onward rushing Villa
keeper. It was a terrible miss and seemed to sum Cisse up. A fine striker
when no time is awarded to him to think but like so many one on ones in the
past the French striker seems to possess very little subtlety in front of
goal with a hopeful smash the end result.

Gerrard then had the ball in the net, but he had strayed offside.

The teams went in goalless at the break. With all of Liverpool�s possession
and Villa clearly looking nervous with only 1 win in 12 games this was not a
satisfactory scoreline for the visitors. Villa would have been the happier
to go in level with the chance to re-organise for the second half.

The teams came out for the second half as they had ended the first.
Liverpool were now playing towards their own fans. Liverpool had abandoned
the 4-4-2 towards the end of the first half and with Cisse now on the right
and Gerrard given a more free role.

Cisse continued to enjoy a lot of space in the second half as Villa came out
with a real purpose and playing high up the pitch left themselves open to
the ball over the top. Cisse was released on numerous occasions but between
poorly timed runs and poor decision making and equally poor crossing there
was little end result.

Liverpool made their first change on 56 minutes. Garcia had been wholly
ineffective on the left. Zenden came on as his replacement. The change had
been crying out to be made for a while with the only question being should
Kewell or Zenden come on.

Both teams were now going for the win but there were still very few
clear-cut chances. Villa came closest to opening the scoring when a cross
field ball from right to left seen the Liverpool back four push out clearly
leaving two Villa players offside but the run was made by an onside Villa
player who was left in the box unmarked. Thankfully he collected the ball
out wide, Reina came to his near post, which gave the defence time to re
group. The ball was eventually cut back to Baros who was quickly charged
down by Reina to smother the shot. Liverpool looked at 6�s and 7�s but
managed to clear the ball.

The totally invisible and ineffective Morientes was replaced on 68 minutes.
It was thought by one and all that Crouch was signed to provide another
option from the bench away from home and credit were credit is due, he came
on and played a stormer completely changing the game.

Once again Crouch showed what an intelligent player he can be with a neat
touch and good feet. While he was completely ineffective against Anderlecht
as an attacking threat, today he was both the provider and the threat in the
short space of time he was on. Within seconds of coming on Crouch chased a
long cross-field pass which looked to be going out for a throw. With a drag
back he kept it in play on the right wing then made for the bye line.
Gerrard assisted his decision making by making a cross-field run to the font
of the box that Crouch quickly spotted. He played a diagonal ball back to
Gerrard who from 20 yards hit a good shot that looked like being the opening
goal. Sorensen somehow managed to get down to his near post and make a
tremendous one handed save. Not only did he save it but also he had the
strength in his arm to turn it around the post.

Liverpool made their third and final change bringing on Kewell for Cisse on
76 minutes. Crouch was becoming more involved, dropping deep to collect,
holding the ball and releasing teamates with good intelligent link play.
Even with his good performance he was guilty of 2 misses, one of which will
haunt him until he finally breaks his duck. Zenden done well to get past his
man and deliver a good cross. Crouch was totally unmarked on the six-yard
line. With the goal at his mercy his simply jumped and allowed the ball to
come off his head straight into the arms of Sorensen. Instead of attacking
the ball and picking his spot he simply hung his head up and hoped for the
best. It was a glaring miss and just showed his lack of confidence.

The breakthrough finally came on 85 minutes. David O leary and Alan Hansen
and others do not think it was a penalty but to be honest it was. Again
Zenden on the left got a good cross into the box. Ridgewell with both his
arms wrapped around Crouch hauled him to the ground. The accusations that it
was six of one and half a dozen of another in my opinion were simply untrue.
On the replay it can be seen that Crouch�s arm �touched� Ridgewell. At no
time did Crouch grab the Villa defender.

This was a pressure kick and the questions where I was watching was quite
simply �WHO�

Who would step up and take this vital kick. In fairness to Gerrard he
stepped up and very calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left hand
corner.

The next part for me was the most positive aspect of the entire game and
shows this team is slowly but surely growing in confidence. In the last 5
minutes away from home, surely the away aside would sit back in anticipation
of the coming onslaught. But thanks to Liverpool�s attitude that onslaught
was nipped in the bud as Liverpool decided the best form of defence was
attack.

Liverpool took the game to Villa which once again seen Zenden get wide and
put in a low ball. Crouch attacked but to be honest his attempt was half
hearted and weakly hit. Even though the effort from only 5 yards out was
goal ward bound the defender easily blocked it. The ball was free and was
slotted out to the edge of the box. Gerrard looked like he was going to
shoot but was aware enough to see Alonso moving in. Gerrard stepped aside to
see Alonso drive a 20-yard shot past Sorenson to wrap up the points.

Overall an average performance without looking outstanding but 3 points away
from home to wrap up a great week for the reds. To win away from home when
not all players are at their best is the sign of a team who are gelling and
moving forward. Garcia was lost out left again and to be honest it just does
not work. Morientes was awful showing little urgency or anticipation. Cisse
at least tried very hard but his wastefulness in possession and the amount
of times he was caught offside is most worrying. Sissoko was a disgrace.
Booked yet again he then decided to dive every time he was touched and pull
out of every subsequent tackle. For the second game in a row he was lucky
not to be sent off.

On the plus side I thought Gerrard was back to his busy and urgent self. He
played some great balls over the top and showed great awareness of others
around him especially to get free for Crouch�s pull back and to see Alonso�s
run for his goal.

Hyppia had a fine game and did not put a foot wrong.

But for me MOTM by a country mile for his drive, tacking and marshalling of
everything at the back was Jamie Carragher.

Teams:
Aston Villa Sorensen, Delaney, Mellberg, Ridgewell, Barry, Davis, McCann,
Bakke (Hendrie 82), Milner, Baros, Phillips (Angel 61).
Subs Not Used: Samuel, Taylor, Moore.
Booked: Barry, McCann.
Liverpool Reina, Finnan, Hyypia, Carragher, Riise, Gerrard, Alonso, Sissoko,
Luis Garcia (Zenden 57), Morientes (Crouch 68), Cisse (Kewell 76).
Subs Not Used: Dudek, Warnock.
Booked: Sissoko, Alonso.
Goals: Gerrard 85 pen, Alonso 89.
Att: 42,551
Ref: S Bennett (Kent).

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