Liverpool successfully repelled Aston Villa's valiant attempt to reduce the gap on the top four teams in the Premier League. Prior to Stefan Bajcetic's first goal as a senior, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk scored in the opening period to make it 2-1.
Prior to Friday's visit from Leicester, their victory put them five points outside of the Champions League spots and kept them in sixth place.
However, despite Ollie Watkins' goal, they were lucky against mid-table Villa, who put up a fight but squandered opportunities and lacked quality when it mattered most.
After witnessing second-placed Newcastle go 11 points ahead with ease at Leicester, Jurgen Klopp knew a win was necessary to not only stay in touch with the Magpies but also to close the gap on the top four.
When Emi Buendia set up Watkins inside the first 60 seconds, it seemed as though it may be a difficult night, but he lacked the strength to overcome Alisson Becker.
Villa would immediately regret the miss, which encapsulated their attacking threat as being all promise and little quality. Tyrone Mings and Robin Olsen collided after Darwin Nunez mishandled Andy Robertson's cross, necessitating medical attention for the defender.
The interruption may have disturbed Villa, but it was ineffective because the visitors took the lead when play restarted after five minutes.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was standing 40 yards away, cleared Robertson's corner only to have Robertson nip in front of John McGinn and roll a lovely ball for Salah, who made no mistakes. Even so, Villa was given hope when Watkins again managed to get through the defense and was stopped by Alisson before the offside flag was appropriately but belatedly raised.
Leon Bailey missed from 12 yards while playing for Liverpool, and Villa Park's typical displeasure surfaced early in the game. Alisson had little trouble with Watkins' soft header, which caused even more alarm.
The ruthlessness of Liverpool made the difference, and they nearly added a second after 21 minutes when Joel Matip headed home an Alexander-Arnold free-kick but erred just slightly offside.
At both ends, there was room to take advantage of it, and Nunez made the point twice by moving over before capitalizing on Ezri Konsa's slice to shoot directly at Olsen. Due to how generous the game was, Villa could have been down 3-0 or could have been ahead. Salah was up next and shot wide after 30 minutes.
Olsen, who struggled to appear convincing when filling in for World Cup winner Emi Martinez, sent his low effort wide as Nunez's mobility was giving Villa real problems.
However, the hosts mishandled the ensuing corner, and Salah set up Van Dijk to score with a slight deflection off Konsa. Nunez had an opportunity to add a third goal before halftime by directing at Olsen from close range, but the Reds had the ideal second-half foundation thanks to a two-goal lead.
After the restart, Watkins fired into the corner, but he was offside, and McGinn missed a diving header. Suddenly, it appeared unstable. However, Salah could have ended the game for Liverpool after 50 minutes when he rapidly broke from a Villa free-kick, but Olsen stopped him.
The Reds wanted to settle the game because Villa continued to pose a danger, but they failed, and Watkins scored a goal by heading in a cross from Douglas Luiz after 59 minutes.
With nine minutes remaining, Liverpool finally put an end to Villa's ambitions when Bajcetic displayed incredible calmness to get around Olsen and shoot through Mings' legs after Nunez's cross.
blogpay
