This was never going to be easy and the only thing that mattered was the points. Yeah, we might need to claw back that goal difference at some point but this wasn’t the night for that. A rabid home crowd and an energised opponent all wanting to have their ‘Crystal Palace moment’, coupled with a lot of changes in our side guaranteed this was going to be a grind. And it was.
Villa have been shite for months. They’ve won a few games recently but only against bums. Maybe if they’d been as up for all of those games as they were for this one they’d be pushing for a European spot. It’s embarrassing seeing how fired up some of these fans are when they play us. But everyone wants us to win the title.
Villa started the game really well and we didn’t. Even before the goal it was clear they were at it and we would need time to settle. Then they scored after just a few minutes. The goal should never have stood of course, but it was also alarming how ragged we looked.
Watkins was offside and should have been flagged, but the ease with which he beat Virgil to get a shot away was surprising. Alisson saved it and the ball went out wide. No flag from the lino, which was surprising as they don’t usually miss ones that obvious. The cross comes in and isn’t cleared. It ends up on the other flank, another cross comes in and they score.
Now here’s the thing. We never got the ball back after that initial attack, so how is that a different phase of play? The entire thing only happens because an offside player runs through and has a shot. Did the lino not see it or did he just think VAR would sort it out?
I’m fine with him making a mistake but why did VAR not go back and correct it? It’s bad enough when it actually is another phase of play but this clearly wasn’t. The only Liverpool player to even touch the ball from when Watkins ran through to when Douglas Luiz scored was Alisson, who made two saves. How the fuck was that allowed to stand?
Officials can make mistakes and that’s fine. But VAR is meant to be the safety net for that. Shit like this can decide where the title goes. In fact, it probably has already if you look at the staggering decisions City got against Wolves and Everton, not to mention what happened to us at Spurs. It’s not good enough.
Thankfully we weren’t behind long, as that might have been decisive. Drawing level so quickly took the wind out of Villa’s sails and got us back where we’d started. I really wouldn’t have wanted to be trailing for a long period as that’s when the nerves and tension really kick in.
Joel got us back on terms with a close range finish after Villa failed to deal with a set-piece. Jota made himself a nuisance and Virgil was alert to get the ball back into the danger area, and ol’ Big Bird was on the spot to draw himself level in the goalscorers chart with £100m man Jack Grealish.
We never really looked settled though even after the equaliser and we had some proper ropey moments. Alisson passed the ball straight to Watkins and was incredibly lucky to get away with it. Just sloppy.
And how leggy did Fabinho look? He was second to everything, committing fouls all over the show, losing the ball and eventually he did his hamstring after getting caught in possession. It looked like a twinge rather than a pull but these things are usually a couple of weeks minimum so this is a problem.
Hendo came on and we looked better after that. Probably partly due to his calming presence and also just the speed of the game eventually settling down. We had more control of the game but we weren’t creating much. Sadio had a headed sail just wide but apart from that there wasn’t much.
The second half was similar. We had control, we kept Villa quiet for the most part but we just didn’t really look like scoring. I couldn’t see where a goal was coming from and I’d have brought Salah on for Jota probably on the hour or even before.
Klopp went with Thiago instead, replacing the ineffective Jones. It can’t be easy coming in for one game a month and it’s not a co-incidence that his best form came when he was playing semi-regularly. We’ve seen it with Ox too. When he had a run in the side he started to play well, but we can’t get these lads enough minutes because we need to play our best team.
I didn’t think Curtis was bad but he just didn’t make any impact, and with his skillset he really ought to be doing things in the final third. Mind you, Naby wasn’t much better and he’s been playing regularly. He did some good things and overall I thought he was ok, but we need more from him than this.
The chance he missed in the first half was pathetic, but his play in the build up to that was quality. He’s just frustrating as we see glimpses of what he can do but glimpses is mostly all it is. We need him to step up now as Fabinho will be out and Keita is likely to start out games. Time to deliver.
Thiago did make a difference, as you’d expect, and he actually started the move that led to the winner when he won the ball on halfway. Jota played a clever first time ball over the top to send Diaz away. He drove at the full back and played an early cross in which Sadio headed home.
It wasn’t a great cross and Sadio did incredibly well to adjust himself to guide the ball into the corner. He made it look easy but that was a difficult chance.
Having got the lead I never had the feeling that we’d lose it. Villa had a couple of dangerous moments, usually through the lively Ings, but if anything I thought we were more likely to kill them off with a third goal. Especially when Mo came on. He nearly scored with his first touch when he ran in behind but wasn’t able to get the ball under control.
That was as good as it got for him though. Basically he lost the ball every time he got it. It’s not a good period for him but the cup final on Saturday is the perfect stage for him to get back on track.
We’ll see what the rest of the Premier League season has in store for us. We may not win it but I desperately want us to win our games even if it turns out to be in vain. I just don’t want sad little wankers like Aston Villa fans having their little moment in the sun where they can say they were the ones to stop us winning the title.
Southampton would love to do it next week as payback for all the players we bought from them. Then there’s Wolves, the banter kings who were cheering Man City goals on the final day of the season a few years ago. I don’t want anyone having the satisfaction or the opportunity to come up with shitty little songs to taunt us with. Imagine if Villa had done it, they'd be fucking unbearable. They already are, giving it the "Sign On" chants when their manager is Steven fucking Gerrard. Wankers.
They all want their own Demba Ba moment, or their ‘Crystanbul’. Let’s not let them have it. Just win and see where it takes us. These lads look like they’ll do exactly that, despite the congested fixture list which means we either have to make loads of changes or play lads who are leggy.
Very few of the team were at their normal level in this game. Sadio fought and battled and took the game to them. Diaz had moments. Hendo made a big difference when he came on, as Thiago later. Trent was decent (free-kicks aside that is. Time to let Virgil have a go) and Kostas improved as the game went on. Joel was fine too, but Virgil didn’t look fully on it.
Alisson made some good saves including one key block when Ings when clean through, but he also had a couple of wobbles. So overall Sadio was probably the star man. He’s been fucking massive for us since he got back from AFCON. Mo has gone one way since then but thankfully Sadio has gone the other.
So next up the cup final. Losing Fabinho is a really big blow but the main thing is getting him back for Real Madrid. Hendo can play the six in the remaining games so we should be ok for those, but you’d desperately want Fabinho available for the big one so fingers crossed on that.
We’re still chasing the title but need help. We might get it too. I’m not sleeping on Wolves or West Ham. My gut feeling is City won’t win both games but that doesn’t mean that’s enough for us. We just have to hope something goes our way and we can take advantage.
In the meantime, let’s go and get another trophy this weekend. Up the still quadruple chasing Reds!
Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Fabinho (Henderson), Keita, Jones (Thiago); Diaz (Salah), Mané Jota:
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