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Liverpool beat Aston Villa 2-0
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-06 10:06 Liverpool won their first back-to-back Premiership
victories of the season on Saturday when they beat Aston Villa 2-0 with late
goals from Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso.
Gerrard calmly slotted home a
penalty on the 85th minutes after substitute Peter Crouch was fouled by Liam
Ridgewell.
Four minutes later, Xabi Alonso cracked in a shot that Villa
keeper Thomas Sorensen probably should have kept out.
Prior to his
fumble, Sorensen had kept Liverpool at bay, making notable saves from Djibril
Cisse and Gerrard.
Prior to those late goals the game had looked to be
heading for a draw, because of a combination of Sorensen's goalkeeping and
Liverpool's indifferent finishing.
Just before winning the penalty Crouch
missed the game's best chance with a poorly-placed header, while Cisse and
Fernando Morientes had subdued matches.
Villa were just as indifferent in
attack and Milan Baros had a quiet game against his old club.
Baros was
superbly tackled by Jamie Carragher in the first half, while he was robbed of
the ball by Alonso on the 67th minutes when in a good position.
Liverpool
have struggled badly for goals this season in the Premiership and in the
first-half there was plenty of evidence of their misfiring
attack.
Despite starting in the centre, Cisse was quickly instructed to
play on the right wing, a position he looked clearly uncomfortable
in.
Morientes looked just as out of sorts and he managed just one shot in
the entire game, an effort comfortably saved by Sorensen.
Midway through
the second half the Spaniard was replaced by former Villa striker
Crouch.
The England striker quickly made his presence felt, picking out
Gerrard, whose rasping shot was saved by Sorensen.
Liverpool fans will be
wondering quite why it took them 85 minutes to find a way past
Sorensen.
Early on, after an elaborate Liverpool move the ball arrived at
Luis Garcia's feet, the Spaniard turned quickly and sent in a shot that went
narrowly wide.
Cisse was the next to probe Villa's defence, slipping the
ball to Gerrard, whose cross was blocked by Ridgewell.
Having weathered
that early storm Villa came back into the game.
Baros was stopped in his
tracks by a well-timed Carragher tackle, while Kevin Phillips flashed a header
past the post.
The best chance of the first half fell to Cisse when
Gerrard's raking pass released the Frenchman.
Cisse quickly controlled
the ball but his shot was well saved by Sorensen.
The Frenchman made
amends for his miss when he robbed Gareth Barry of possession only for his cross
to elude Morientes and Garcia.
Finally, with five minutes to go, Crouch
and Ridgewell tangled in the box and to the Villa defender's disbelief, referee
Steve Bennett awarded the penalty.
Four minutes later the ball broke to
Alonso on the edge of the box and the Spanish midfielder's swerving shot found
its way past Sorensen.
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