Liverpool 3 Villa 1 - Prem (Apr 29 2006)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL 3 Aston Villa 1

Report by Dave Usher at Anfield

Scorer(s) - Fernando Morientes, Steven Gerrard (2) Half Time - 1-0 Venue - Anfield Date - Sat 29 Apr 2006 Star Man - Steven Gerrard

 

 

 

It was a day full of positives. Three points, three goals scored, the mancs losing, Steve Bruce and Bryan Robson relegated, the sun shining, birds singing, Rooney crocked…. As far as good days go, this one is right up there. Villa are the ideal opponents for days like this. They never have anything to play for, as they’re always just too good to be in trouble, and much too shit to be in contention.

Villa’s fans were in party mood, and were perhaps more interested in events at the JJB and St Andrews as they were with what their own team were doing. As for us, well United’s heavy defeat at the Bridge, coupled with Rooney’s injury had provided renewed hope that second place might still be attainable. All we needed was to trounce Villa and wipe out United’s goal difference advantage, and it would have been the perfect day.

When Morientes gave us a third minute lead I was seriously beginning to believe that we could hit the seven goals required to overhaul them. After all, it’s only Villa and they’ve been rolling over for people all season. Unfortunately, Liverpool’s biggest Achilles heel all season has been sitting back instead of going for the jugular. This failing reared its ugly head once more, as Villa slowly crept back into the game and eventually levelled the scores in the second half.

Up until Barry’s goal, the game was a typical end of season affair. There wasn’t enough urgency in Liverpool’s play, although Xabi Alonso was the honourable exception to that as he was constantly probing and trying to get things going. It was his excellent pass which had created the opening goal for Nando (expertly finished too), and he seemed to be the only one who realised that wiping out United’s goal advantage could be the difference between second place and third.

The lack of quality out wide was in evidence from the early stages. Cisse had a largely ineffective game on the right, whilst I thought Riise was absolutely wretched on the other flank. Gerrard was quiet until Villa scored, and then all of a sudden he went through the gears and basically won the game almost on his own. Had he and his team-mates shown that same urgency all the way through we could possibly be above the mancs in the table right now.

It seems churlish to be complaining that we ‘only’ won 3-1, it’s just that I honestly think we missed a real opportunity here to put the wind up the mancs, especially as they’re reeling after losing Rooney. He's acarried them for the past five months or so, and they were held at home by Boro without him. However, with Charlton at home still to come they’d have to seriously blow it for us to get second now.

Having said that, it’s been a long season and for us to be able to record our tenth win in a row at this stage of the campaign is pretty damn impressive. I’m really happy with how things are going and I suppose it’s a sign of how good I think we can be that I was realistically thinking we could put six or seven past Villa! I’m sure when Nando scored so early Rafa was thinking it was a ‘possibility’ too.

I’m probably doing Villa a bit of a disservice, as they do have some good players. It’s just that they have been shambolic at times this season. Their fans look to have had enough of O’Leary, and even had a banner calling for him to be given the England job. I’m hoping Fat Sam gets it, for comedy value alone.

This game marked the homecoming of Milan Baros, but it wasn’t a happy one. He barely got a kick, and was taken off at half time. He did have his name chanted by the Kop, and responded by applauding. It’s just a shame he wasn’t subbed in the second half as he would no doubt have been given a terrific ovation when he left the field.

Villa actually looked much better without him, Angel got involved a fair bit, and the young kid who played up there (I’ve got no intention of trying to spell his name!) showed a lot of pace and gave us a couple of hairy moments. Pepe had to make a few saves, and Villa tested us more than many other sides have done.

Harry Kewell was badly missed. He’d been in sublime form against Chelsea the previous week, and had he been in that form against Villa they’d have been unable to cope with him. Then again, had his replacement Riise been on form they’d have struggled to deal with him too. John’s had a really good season after a poor start, but this wasn’t one of his better days. After last week's goal in the semi, he can be forgiven a rare off day.

Once we got our noses in front so early on, it’s perhaps understandable that the players may have subconsciously eased off a little. Minds may be on the cup final, and who can blame them. It took an equaliser from Villa to wake the reds from their slumber, and to be fair to Villa the goal had been coming. Once again it was Barry who scored. Is it just me, or does he get a tap in at the back post of the Anny Road end every season?

That goal woke us up, and it’s a good sign that we are able to step things up like this when we need to. We should be disposing of teams like Villa with relative ease, and we did do in the end. In years gone by, Gerrard has scored a fair few goals by getting on the end of corners, so it’s always frustrating to me seeing him taking them. He’s excellent at attacking the near post and has scored a few headers from that position, especially in the treble season.

Initially, I wondered whether Alonso’s corner had been mis-hit and Gerrard had just improvised to make the most of it. Having seen it again, it looked a deliberate tactic as Gerrard had started to make that run before Xabi had struck the ball. So I assume it came from the training ground, and hopefully we’ll see Gerrard in the box more when we have corners and free kicks from now on.

Within a few minutes he had his second, and what a goal it was. Unstoppable, and vintage Steven Gerrard. 21 goals for the season now, yet he’ll probably be used as a holding midfielder in the World Cup. Still, what do I care.

That goal gave me renewed hope we may yet see a goal fest, and Fowler’s presence on the field also provided cause for optimism. Once again I thought Robbie looked sharp, and he was unlucky to see a shot trickle just wide of the post after being set up by Gerrard.

The changes Rafa made certainly pepped things up, and Gerrard was much more threatening when he switched to the right. He’s always said he prefers playing centrally, but the success he’s had this season in that right sided role may have caused him to rethink. No doubt Rafa will be looking for a right sided midfielder this summer, but whoever comes in will have a fight on their hands for a place in the side because Gerrard is the best right sided player in Europe. I think he’s starting to realise that too.

Despite some promising situations we couldn’t add to the 3-1 scoreline, but everyone went away happy, including the Villa fans who celebrated the relegation of their bitter city rivals. In some ways it was a bit sad the way Villa were taking such pleasure in the demise of Birmingham, when they’re little better themselves. But if the shoe were on the other foot and we were absolute shite and had nothing to play for and Everton were facing relegation, no doubt we’d be the same.

It was a party atmosphere all round, as we celebrated our last home game of the season by thanking Rafa and the players as they embarked on their traditional lap of honour. As they waited to start it, some of their kids came out and Carra’s little lad and one of his nephews amused the crowd by breaking away from the group and running off towards the Centenary Stand. All the other kids stayed with their dads, but not little Carra who has obviously been watching videos of his dad in Istanbul and at Old Trafford last week!

Riise and Carra tried to get the two little tots to run towards the Kop, who were cheering them on, but they seemed a little reluctant to do so at first. Eventually they did, complete with medals around their necks and number 23’s on their backs, and the Kop greeted them with “We all dream of a team of Carraghers”. Great stuff.

As I watched the players walking around the pitch, I looked at Robbie and hoped it wouldn’t be the last time we saw him at Anfield as a Liverpool player. I don’t think it will be, as it simply wouldn’t make sense not to keep him now after all the work he has put in to get fit. He’ll be even better after a full pre-season, and I wouldn’t want to see the likes of Bolton reaping the benefit of that. Robbie’s home now, and that’s where he should stay. It’s just a shame he can’t play in the FA Cup.

The win keeps alive our hopes of pipping the mancs to that second spot, and their draw at home with Boro means it will all go down to the last game. I fully expect them to beat Charlton, and to be honest I’m not really bothered what they do. We just have to concentrate on ourselves, and if we can beat Pompey and record 11 wins on the bounce then that’s the perfect way to prepare for the cup final, whether it achieves second or not.

It’s been an excellent season overall whatever happens, but two more wins would make it extra special. Not as special as last season of course, but then how could it be? It’s been much, much better than last season in the overall scheme of things, and hopefully next season will see us improve further.

Star man for me against Villa had to be Gerrard, even if he didn’t do it for the full ninety minutes. The bottom line is when we needed him he stepped up and won the game with two moments of pure quality. I thought Alonso and Carra also played well, and Kromkamp got forward to good effect at times, especially in the 2nd half.


Team: Reina; Kromkamp, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore; Cisse (Sissoko), Gerrard, Alonso, Riise (Warnock); Morientes, Crouch (Fowler):