Steven Gerrard and his new club in Aston Villa returned to Anfield with plenty of momentum, but a second-half penalty from Mohamed Salah made all the difference in the 1-0 result. Salah’s penalty in the 67th minute kept Liverpool just one point shy of league leaders, Manchester City.
“He said congratulations and I said thank you,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said of Gerrard. “You can be the best friend with somebody and when you play each other you want to beat them anyway!”
Liverpool dominated the possession battle 63-37, with 20 shots overall — 5 on goal — to just 4 shots overall — and none on target — for Villa.
“There was a lot of emotion around it for me and my family,” Gerrard said of the match and fanfare. “I’m very respectful and thankful for the reception I got. I tried to deal with it in the most professional way I could.”
Salah now has 30 goals/assists in 22 matches this season. 21 goals and 9 assists in that span. He now has 14 Premier League matches in a row with either a goal or an assist.
“It was an unnecessary open game,” Klopp said of the match. “Like tooth pain! Nobody needs that.”
Villa are now in 12th place with Everton on their heels just a point back.
“I thought Liverpool were better in terms of general play,” Gerrard said. “Their style was better than ours, but we’ve done so well to contain them for large periods. Ultimately the game has been decided by a penalty. There were two penalty incidents in the game, Liverpool got theirs – if you look at that one, Salah fouls Mings first. We didn’t get ours. It feels harsh.”
While Villa just don’t have the talent, or the depth, to attack with creativity, they were able to make Liverpool work for each and every opportunity, defending with absolute class and cohesion for as long as they could.
“It’s always hard to take when you lose football matches,” Gerrard added. “We knew it was going to be a containing job. You have to ride the first 20 to 25 minutes against sides like this. We finished the game stronger, with more belief and some good opportunities.”
Villa won’t have too long to spew on this result as they match up against Norwich City on Tuesday, 14 December.
Liverpool will get a couple extra days of rest compared to Villa as they get set for a PL match against Newcastle United on Thursday, 16 December.
