2-2

Aston Villa denied victory at Liverpool after Luis Suárez wins penalty

Liverpool dropped a couple of home points against a surprisingly dynamic Aston Villa, though at least the club’s American owners saw a few goals and an entertaining game. The home side came back from two goals down to share the points on an evening that put some of the recent title talk around Anfield into perspective. It is true, as Brendan Rodgers keeps saying, that Liverpool still have to play most of the leading contenders at home, though evidently it is also the case that they cannot take results against sides lower down the table for granted. Villa won this fixture last year, and until Gabriel Agbonlahor was forced off early in the second half looked capable of doing so again.

“We lost Gabby at a vital time, because he was proving unplayable,” Paul Lambert said. “Some of our players put in massive performances today. I thought we could have been out of sight by half‑time.”

That is only a slight exaggeration. Not realising his side would soon be two goals to the good, Paul Lambert had his head in his hands just 45 seconds into the game when Villa missed a great chance to open the scoring, Agbonlahor latching on to Christian Benteke’s flick but poking the ball wide in front of the Kop with only Simon Mignolet to beat. If that was a lucky escape for Liverpool then luck soon evened itself out, Leandro Bacuna surviving a penalty appeal when the ball clearly hit his arm.

Villa’s away kit is every bit as hideous as purple and white quarters suggests, though the visitors were no shrinking violets. They took the game to Liverpool in the early stages, with Agbonlahor and Benteke both causing problems for Kolo Touré and Martin Skrtel, and the Kop goal had another let-off when Ciaran Clark struck the foot of Mignolet’s post with a firm header from a corner.

With Liverpool struggling to get into their stride, Villa took a deserved lead with a well-executed counterattack. Benteke sent Agbonlahor galloping beyond Touré into space on the left, and Andreas Weimann sprinted 80 yards to supply the far-post tap-in when the cross came along the goalline.

There was a suspicion of offside because Weimann had got beyond the Liverpool defenders, though replays confirmed he was not in front of his team-mate when the pass was released.

Brad Guzan saved from Raheem Sterling as Liverpool attempted to get back on terms, but Villa gained further reward when Mignolet and Skrtel got in each other’s way and failed to deal with an Agbonlahor cross from the right that left Benteke with a straightforward header. The ball crossed the line almost apologetically, and to make matters worse Liverpool’s next chance to reply fell to Aly Cissokho just before the interval, and the defender appears to have modelled his finishing technique on a Jason Puncheon penalty.

Fortunately, Daniel Sturridge does know how to find the net, and when a neat touch from Jordan Henderson turned a Luis Suárez pass into something more dangerous in stoppage time, the England striker’s angled shot reduced the arrears.

Rodgers made a change at half-time, sensibly deciding that this was not the game to leave Lucas Leiva on the bench, and introduced the defensive midfielder at the expense of Philippe Coutinho. The younger Brazilian lasted only 20 minutes before he too made way, for Joe Allen. Villa also made an enforced change a couple of minutes after the restart, Agbonlahor pulling up after a collision with the perimeter hoarding to allow Grant Holt the chance to make his debut.

Scorer of a memorable goal here for Norwich, though considered too portly to hold down a place at Wigan, Holt had the briefest of chances to make an immediate impression before Liverpool levelled the scores from the penalty spot. Suárez touched the ball past Guzan from Steven Gerrard’s inspired pass and the goalkeeper brought him down. That is what the referee decided in any case.
Contact appeared to be minimal but the goalkeeper sold himself and Suárez knows what to do in those situations. Gerrard calmly stroked the ball into the bottom corner.

Suárez and Henderson had shots saved as Liverpool pressed for a winner, Suárez went close with a free-kick and Bacuna was booked for cheekily wasting time by presenting the ball to a member of the crowd.

On this occasion, Suárez was unable to come to Liverpool’s rescue; it happens sometimes. Neither side could produce enough urgency in the final half-hour to deserve all three points. A draw was fair. Even Rodgers thought so. “It was a good point in the end,” the Liverpool manager said. “We weren’t great but we got something.”