Well, Saturday was decent, wasn’t it? After watching Manchester City collapse in the closing 20 minutes on the South Coast in the 3pm kickoff, Liverpool found themselves in a position to go 5 points clear at the top going into the international break with a win against Aston Villa. The late kickoff, coupled with the euphoria of match-goers watching the conclusion of the City result in the pubs around Anfield, provided the ingredients for a carnival atmosphere—and they did not disappoint.
Arne Slot made several changes from the midweek trouncing of Leverkusen, with Andy Robbo being handed the start over Kostas at left-back, and Cody Gakpo making way for Luis Díaz on the left wing, with Darwin through the middle. The remaining 9 were left unchanged. Virgil led the boys onto the pitch, the Kop belted out Gerry’s anthem, David Coote prepared to enjoy his final day of employment, and away we went.
I found myself very pleased with the opening stages of the game. In recent times, we have seemingly started games cautiously—particularly against Brighton last weekend at Anfield, which left us trailing 14 minutes in. This was not the case on Saturday. From the opening kick, we seemed to be at it: chasing every ball, switching the play early and often, and being roared on by an electric Kop right from the first kick. While the early pressure didn’t result in any great scoring opportunities, you could certainly feel that they were looming just out of view on the horizon.
On 15 minutes, Villa found themselves with a corner taken just in front of their support at the Annie Road End. Youri Tielemans whipped in a low cross to the near post, which was effectively dealt with by the mass of bodies in the area. After briefly caroming to the top of the box, a stray boot poked the ball into a pocket of unoccupied space on the right side of the penalty area. A brief dash to the ball saw the Liverpool skipper come first, and he hooked a ball into a sea of green beyond halfway down the right flank. It was immediately apparent that Salah was reaching the ball at full tilt, with only Leon Bailey in his wake, and Darwin and Lucho through the center for support. Salah took a touch before being assaulted by Bailey—the only Villa defender this half of the field—and just as my rage at the objectively corrupt Coote, waving his arms to not give a foul, bubbled within my gut, our beautiful Uruguayan harbinger of chaos latched onto the loose ball at the top of the Villa box. A heavy touch at a dead sprint took him just beyond the floundering Martínez, before a right-footed strike falling away from the goal saw the ball slam into the roof of the Kop-end net. A classic Liverpool counterattack, a bouncing Kop, and an elated Darwin—happy days.
Emery and Villa did their best to respond following the goal, and they were relatively effective in remaining in the game, when on another day, the scoreline may have been 2 or 3-nil before the break. A similar counterattack from another Villa corner just 6 minutes later saw Darwin (in typical Darwin fashion) miss a markedly easier chance than the one he had just scored, firing high and wide of Martínez’s net. A spell of Villa pressure towards the end of the first 45 saw Kelleher called into action on back-to-back Villa corners: with the Irishman first sprawling to deny Amadou Onana an equalizer, before remarkably beating away a point-blank effort from Diego Carlos. This brought us to the break with the lead intact at 1-nil, but the Villa pressure slowly beginning to mount.
The second half began seemingly just as the first had ended. Morgan Rodgers found himself breaking into the Liverpool box just 20 seconds after the restart, resulting in a shot from a threatening area that ended up about 40 yards wide. Soon after, Darwin again missed a golden chance to put us two to the good, firing wide with a free header from just outside of the 6-yard box.
Following the somewhat chaotic spell to begin the second half, the action quieted considerably. Liverpool looked to regain some control in a match that had, at times, taken on the look of a basketball game—and as a result, the Reds were content to put their foot on the ball and just control the pace. While this wasn’t necessarily surprising, I was somewhat surprised by Villa’s acceptance of this, down 1-nil. The visiting side seemed content to watch us knock it around at the back for long spells, with no real press being implemented to win it back rapidly. In fairness, this represented a large chunk of the second half of the match.
As time continued to dwindle, Villa slowly began being forced to commit more and more numbers forward in search of an equalizer. Do you know where this is going? Following a throw-in level with the Liverpool penalty area, the ball was given away by Pau Torres. The 6’4 Spaniard then threw himself to the ground as though he’d been felled by a bullet to the ankle following minimal to no contact. And once again, the Reds looked as though they could be away. The ball was hit hopefully towards halfway, where it was first reached by Diego Carlos; and following the most one-sided bout of head tennis I’ve ever witnessed, the Egyptian King was again streaking away down the right wing, with the freedom of the entirety of the Anfield pitch. He was joined through the middle by Díaz and Gakpo—who had come on for Darwin—and just as the 60,000 within the ground seemed to scream “fuckin’ square it, Mo!” in unison, the magical Egyptian simply lifted the ball over Martínez and into the Annie Road End net. Never mind, take it yourself, lad. Who are we to doubt you?
The match ended 2-nil, another clean sheet for Arne Slot’s Reds, 5 clear at the top after 11 games, and all seems to be right in the world. The fixtures, and the schedule, will only get harder, and there’s still so, so long to go—but it feels like something special just may be happening. The confidence continues to grow within all entities weekly—and Anfield seems back to its very best. Keep enjoying the ride, and I’ll be looking forward to David Coote at the unemployment center come next Monday morning. Good luck, mate. Hope you never work again in any field! (If you’re confused by these shouts, just look up his name. I’m still mulling over writing a completely separate piece on this, but at the moment, I think I’m likely to implicate myself in a crime given the strength of my feelings on the matter.)
Up the pissboiling Reds, and I’ll see you all after the break!
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