Game #4462
Aston Villa
Sunday, 2 March 1997
Won
6th (-)
Last 5: 🟥 🟩 🟩 🟨 🟩
Premier League
Attendance: 39,339
Liverpool
Villa Park
Villa win for the third time in four unbeaten Premier League games as Villa beat Liverpool at Villa Park.
Aston Villa
1-0
Liverpool
Assist(s) | Andy Townsend | 83’ |
KEY MAN
Ian Taylor, "honest toiler" hit the matchwinner to beat Liverpool.
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
Sunday, 2 March 1997
🕒 | HT Aston Villa 0-0 Liverpool
🔁 | 46’ Sub off, Steve Staunton, Sub on, David Hughes 🟢
⚽ | 83’ Goal, 1-0, Ian Taylor, Assist by Andy Townsend
🕒 | FT Aston Villa 1-0 Liverpool
ON THIS DAY
Centre back David Hughes made his first appearance for Villa as a substitute aged 19 after joining the club as a trainee and signing professional forms in July 1996.
Future Villa centre forward Stan Collymore, future Villa ‘keeper David James and future Villa winger Patrik Berger all featured for Liverpool.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1995-96
Liverpool
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆🏆🏆🏆
UEFA Cup / Europa League: 🏆🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1994-95
FIXTURE HISTORY
Liverpool
Previous 5 vs. Liverpool: 🟩 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟥
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1996-97 |
Matchday | #35 |
League Game | #28 |
Manager Game | #116 |
Sunday, 2 March 1997
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Brian Little | 🏴 | Peterlee, 1994-1998
Referee: Steve Dunn | 🏴 | Bristol, 1992-2006
Kick off: 4.00pm
HT Score: 🟨 0-0
FT Score: 🟩 1-0
FT Result: 🟩 Won
Last 5: 🟥 🟩 🟩 🟨 🟩
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Steve Dunn | 🏴 | Bristol, 1992-2006
Previous 5: 🟩 🟥 🟨 🟩
Last Match: 🟩 22 December 1996, Villa 5-0 Wimbledon, Villa Park.
Cards: 🟨
CARDS
TEAM NEWS
Villa name an unchanged line up for the second successive game.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 26.59 |
Oldest Player
M Andy Townsend | 🇮🇪 | 33.63 |
Youngest Player
F Savo Milošević | 🇷🇸 | 23.51 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
Brian Little | 🏴 |
Roy Evans | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK Mark Bosnich | 🇦🇺 |
RB Fernando Nélson | 🇵🇹 |
CB Gareth Southgate | 🏴 |
CB Ugo Ehiogu | 🏴 |
LB Alan Wright | 🏴 |
LB Steve Staunton | 🇮🇪 | 🔁 |
M Mark Draper | 🏴 |
M Ian Taylor | 🏴 | ⚽ |
M Andy Townsend | 🇮🇪 | 🔥 |
CF Savo Milošević | 🇷🇸 |
CF Dwight Yorke | 🇹🇹 |
Liverpool
GK David James | 🏴 |
LB Stig Inge Bjørnebye | 🇳🇴 |
LB Dominic Matteo | 🏴 |
CB Bjørn Tore Kvarme | 🇳🇴 |
CB Mark Wright | 🏴 |
M Jason McAteer | 🇮🇪 |
M Jamie Redknapp | 🏴 |
W John Barnes | 🏴 |
W Steve McManaman | 🏴 |
CF Stan Collymore | 🏴 | 🟨 | 🔁 |
CF Robbie Fowler | 🏴 |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | CB David Hughes | 🏴 | 🟢 | for LB Steve Staunton | 🇮🇪 | 46’ |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | CF Stan Collymore (ex) | 🏴 | (W Patrik Berger | 🇨🇿 |)
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Michael Oakes | 🏴 |
M Lee Hendrie | 🏴 |
CF Tommy Johnson | 🏴 |
CF Julian Joachim | 🏴 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Tony Warner | 🇹🇹 |
CB Neil Ruddock | 🏴 |
LB Steve Harkness | 🏴 |
W Mark Kennedy | 🇮🇪 |
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 5/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 10/16
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 8/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 10/16
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
CB David Hughes | 🏴 |
FINAL APPEARANCES
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE
PROGRAMME



MATCHDAY QUOTES
"Not a striker by repute, but an honest toiler in the midfield, lan Taylor was Villa's match winner."
*The Irish Independent*
Monday, 3 March 1997
THE championship of English football is not lightly won or lost by the beginning of March. But the manner in which Liverpool went down so neatly at Villa Park yesterday, and the way Newcastle United had surrendered at home against Southampton on Saturday, suggests that the Premiership is Manchester United's unless the defending champions choose to lose it.
Not a striker by repute, but an honest toiler in the midfield, lan Taylor was Villa's match winner. There were seven minutes remaining and the game, played on a difficult, heavily sanded and rutted pitch, had reached a level of stalemate and mediocrity that must have made viewing an absolute relaxation to the Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson.
Andy Townsend delivered a searching, accurate, driven centre that bisected Liverpool's central defenders, Mark Wright and Dominic Matteo. Behind them, unseen, unmarked and unhurried. Taylor came and he had the composure to cushion the ball on his left thigh and the time to use his right foot to hook it into the net.
In the beginning, everything had looked urgent. Three times. Mark Wright. who would be many people's choice as an England defender still, was lured out of defence and passed with alarming ease by Savo Milosevic, Dwight Yorke and then Mark Draper.
The last of those, in the tenth minute. involved a scintillating burst of verve and pace. It was stopped by Bjorn Kvarme, the Norwegian recruit from Rosenberg, who giving an object lesson to the English in the art of defending, matched Draper for speed and then stretched out his foot to knock the ball to safety.
Next, Taylor caught John Barnes dwelling on the ball - vigour beating wisdom - but Yorke. too quick for Stig Bjornebye and Matteo only invited the save from James with a rising shot.
Within seconds. Stan Collymore, clean through and aided by the impetuous way Mark Bosnich had rushed out of his area, for some inexplicable reason scooped the ball high over the bar. It would have been line at Twickenham but it was so wasteful on the Villa sands.