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Game #4086

Saturday, 9 December 1989

Attendance: 37,435

Drew

Division One

2nd= (-1)

Liverpool

Last 5: 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟨

Anfield

Villa take the game to Liverpool and win in the first half before safety first kicks in ahead of a second half equaliser. Despite sitting joint second with eight wins in ten first division games and one defeat, the Birmingham Mail focus on Villa "needing nine more points to avoid a relegation battle." You couldn't make it up. Meanwhile, elsewhere, the praise is over-flowing for Villa as "serious title-contenders."

Liverpool

1-1

Aston Villa

Assist(s) | Tony Daley | 21' |

KEY MAN

Ian Olney, fired Villa into a deserved lead then gave a "quite exceptional display of the centre-forward's art."

PREVIOUS MATCH

NEXT MATCH

MATCH TIMELINE

⚽ | 21' Goal, 1-0, Ian Olney, Assist by Tony Daley
🕒 | HT Liverpool 0-1 Aston Villa
🥅 | 64' Goal, 1-1, (Liverpool), Peter Beardsley
🕒 | FT Liverpool 1-1 Aston Villa

ON THIS DAY

Graham Taylor’s Villa fail to pick up three points for only the second League game in ten but earn a draw at Anfield. Both teams drop to joint second place after Arsenal's last minute victory over Coventry sends the Gunners top,

Aston Villa

European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
UEFA Cup / Europa League: ❌
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1981-82

Liverpool

European Cup / Champions League: 🏆🏆🏆🏆
UEFA Cup / Europa League: 🏆🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1988-89

FIXTURE HISTORY

Liverpool

Previous 5 vs. Liverpool: 🟨 🟥 🟨 🟥 🟨

FIXTURE DETAILS

Season | 1989-90 |
Matchday | #22 |
League Match | #17 |
Manager Game | #120 |
Saturday, 9 December 1989

MATCH SUMMARY

Manager: Graham Taylor | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Worksop, 1987-1990
Referee: Ken Redfern | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Whitley Bay, 1978-1993
Kick off: 3.00pm
HT Score: 🟩 1-0
FT Result: 🟨 Drew
FT Score: 🟨 1-1
Last 5: 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟨

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Ken Redfern | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Whitley Bay, 1978-1993
Previous 5: 🟥 🟩 🟩
Last Match: 🟩 7 January 1989, FA Cup, Villa 3-2 Crewe, Gresty Road.
Cards: None

CARDS

Villa

None

Liverpool

None

Ken Redfern

TEAM NEWS

Graham Taylor names the same team for a fourth consecutive League game.

TEAM STATS

Starting XI Average Age
| 27.09 |

Oldest Player |
GK Nigel Spink | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 31.36 |

Youngest Player |
CF Ian Olney | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 19.99 |

MANAGER

MANAGER

Graham Taylor | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

Kenny Dalglish | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |

Aston Villa

GK Nigel Spink | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
RB Chris Price | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Paul McGrath | 🇮🇪 |
CB Derek Mountfield | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Kent Nielsen | 🇩🇰 |
M Stuart Gray | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M David Platt | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
W Tony Daley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔥 |
CF Ian Olney | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ⚽ |
CF Ian Ormondroyd | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

Liverpool

GK Bruce Grobbelaar | 🇿🇼 |
LB Steve Staunton | 🇮🇪 |
CB Gary Ablett | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Glenn Hysén | 🇸🇪 |
M Steve McMahon (ex) | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Ray Houghton | 🇮🇪 |
M Ronnie Whelan | 🇮🇪 |
M Jan Mølby | 🇩🇰 |
W John Barnes | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
CF Peter Beardsley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ⚽ |
CF Ian Rush | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 |

SUBSTITUTES

No Substitutions Made

SUBSTITUTES

🔁 | W John Barnes | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | (CB Nick Tanner | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |)

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

M Mark Blake | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Gareth Williams | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

M Mike Marsh | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

SQUAD STATS

1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 9/11

Squad:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 11/13

MATCHDAY SQUAD

SQUAD STATS

1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 5/11

Squad:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 7/13

MATCHDAY SQUAD

UNAVAILABLE

Not recorded

UNAVAILABLE

Not Recorded

Player Abbreviations:

GK : Goalkeeper

LB, RB, FB : Left Back, Right Back, Full Back

CB, D : Centre Back, Defender

M, W : Midfielder. Winger

F, CF : Forward, Centre Forward

🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game

Symbols:

⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution

🟨 | Booking

🟥 | Sending off

🆘 | Poor refereeing performance

DEBUT APPEARANCES

FINAL APPEARANCES

MATCH STATS

Not recorded

TABLE

2021-22 Matchweek 38.jpg

PROGRAMME

Quotation Marks.png

MATCHDAY QUOTES

“After 17 games I’ve got to be very pleased with our position.”

Graham Taylor.

*Sunday Tribune*
Sunday, 10 December 1989

ASTON Villa yesterday came through their biggest test to date, their inexperienced team earning their spurs and a point with a battling performance which matched Liverpool all the way.

The immediate beneficiaries are Arsenal, whose win at Coventry puts them top of the table, but we shall now have to take the challenge by Graham Taylor's restructured side with some seriousness.

If anything they will be the more disappointed with the result after leading for 45 minutes.

lan Olney, who gave a quite exceptional display of the centre-forward's art, particularly when left on his own as his side fell back in the second half, had given them a deserved lead in the 21st minute, and thereafter they had looked increasingly secure for all Liverpool's pressure.

The loss of John Barnes with a recurrence of his hamstring injury after 38 minutes had taken much of the flair out of the home side's attack, and although Liverpool beat insistently at Villa's defence as the second half got under way, the lack of wit in their attacks was reflected in the growing growls of frustration which spread round Anfield.

Paul McGrath and his two fellow centre-backs, Kent Nielsen and Derek Mountfield were all playing with imposing conviction.

There was little apparent danger as Ronnie Whelan chipped the ball forward towards Rush, but McGrath let the Welshman, previously his prisoner all afternoon, get goal-side of him, and in his effort to recover he pulled Rush down.

Before the referee had time to give a free-kick however the ball came off Rush's chest back to Beardsley, who fastened on to it to leave Spink helpless with a low drive from twenty yards into the very corner of the net.

Villa had held the lead for 45 minutes.

Yet if Liverpool had the best of the final quarter, Villa could not be taken for granted and at the very close Olney, marauding with purpose past two defenders only to shoot straight at Grobbelaar could have won the game for the visitors.

In the end the result was about right for Villa had played their part in a splendid, passionate occasion.