Aston Villa: The day Martin O'Neill was rendered motionless by Liverpool
Call it gallows humour, but the lone Villa voice who asked 'Does this make us as good as Real Madrid?' when Liverpool's fourth goal went in was clearly having a laugh.
Which was more than could be said for manager Martin O'Neill after a humiliation which leaves Villa's receding Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.
When the animated Irishman stands statue-like in his technical area instead of jumping around the dugout like a jack in the box, it is clear his team have got problems.
Sadly, he was not the only member of the claret and blue contingent to be rendered motionless by Rafa Benitez's rejuvenated title-chasers, as a team which put four past Real Madrid and Manchester United went one better against Villa.
First for the positives.
John Carew was recalled at the expense of under pressure Gabriel Agbonlahor and forced two fine saves from Pepe Reina with his head and his heel during Villa's brightest spell midway through the first-half. Oh, and the Villa fans stuck with their team throughout. That was about it.
From as early as the eighth minute Villa were in trouble.
When Curtis Davies, now probably wishing he hadn't been brought back in at the expense of Zat Knight, and Nigel Reo-Coker dawdled over dealing with a ball on the edge of the area, the latter resorted to foul means to halt Albert Riera.
From the subsequent free-kick Dirk Kuyt reacted quicker than Carlos Cuellar to lash in the rebound after Steven Gerrard's curling cross was headed against the crossbar by Xabi Alonso.
However, it was the second goal which effectively ended Villa's chances of recovery, coming as it did, at a time when the visitors were gradually feeling their way back into the game.
O'Neill would be the first to take his hat off to a defence-splitting pass of genuine quality, except when the pass is provided by the boot of a goalkeeper and Villa's defenders have ample opportunity to clear it.
Gareth Barry was culpable for losing the run of Riera from Pepe Reina's route one punt, even though the captain was covering the right-back area for Reo-Coker, who in turn was filling in for centre-back Davies, then still returning from a Villa attack.
No matter. Whoever was to blame there is no justification for Riera being able to pull down the high ball and score from just inside box, albeit with a stunning strike which crashed in off the crossbar.
Unsurprisingly, Liverpool chose to target the area of weakness down Villa's right repeatedly, a successful tactic which also resulted in the third goal.
Kuyt picked out Riera with a measured crossfield ball from right to left and with Reo-Coker frantically back-pedalling to recover his position the make-shift fullback clipped the Spaniard and conceded a penalty, which Gerrard coolly converted, sending Brad Friedel the wrong way.
No offence to the manager's powers of motivation but his half-time team-talk must have included less positive points than Villa have gleaned from their past five league matches.
For it took Liverpool all of five minutes of the second period to compound Villa's misery.
Cuellar caught Kuyt on the edge of the box and Gerrard provided further proof of why he widely regarded as the world's best midfielder.
The Reds captain was clearly frustrated by the Villa wall encroaching towards the ball, but simply waited for his opponents to jump before placing a sublime side-footed finish under them and low into the right corner.
On this form, Gerrard did more to convince his close pal Gareth Barry to join him on Merseyside next season than the power-brokers at Anfield managed throughout last summer's protracted transfer saga.
By completing a match-winning hat-trick Gerrard not only made the Reds a more attractive proposition to Barry by enhancing Liverpool's title chances, he also put an almighty dent in Villa's hopes of keeping their longest-serving player by finishing fourth.
Gerrard's third goal was a carbon copy of his first, a clinical spot kick, this time committing Brad Guzan before rolling the ball in confidently after Brad Friedel's return to Anfield was soured further by his 65th minute sending off.
Fernando Torres' failure to score was the only mystery on Merseyside, although there is little doubt he would have done had Friedel not caught him on the edge of the six-yard box during an ominous dart towards goal.
From that point onwards it was damage limitation. Villa restricted the Reds to five (a result which leaves them three points and 14 goals worse off than Arsenal in fifth).
However, the true extent of the damage will not become clear until they next cross the white line. At Old Trafford in a fortnight's time, of course, in case anyone has forgotten.
Scorers: Kuyt (8), Riera (33), Gerrard (pen, 40, 50, pen 65).
Liverpool (4-4-1-1): Reina; Arbeloa (Agger 77), Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio; Mascherano, Alonso (Lucas 66), Gerrard (Ngog), Kuyt, Riera, Torres. Substitutes: Cavalieri, Dossena, Hyypia, El Zhar.
Aston Villa (4-4-2): Friedel; Reo-Coker (Guzan 65), Cuellar, Davies, L Young; Milner, Petrov, Barry, Ashley Young, Heskey (Agbonlahor 58), Carew (Gardner 89). Substitutes: Delfouneso, Knight, Salifou, Shorey.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
Booked: Liverpool - Gerrard (foul); Villa - L Young (foul), Barry (dissent), Gardner (foul).
Sent off: Friedel (professional foul).
Attendance: 44,131.
Villa man of the match: Brad Guzan - Despite being thrown on in unenviable circumstances and picking out a penalty from his first involvement, the young American handled his Premier League debut and the ball as well as could be expected.
Older/Newer
« Aston Villa v Liverpool live blog - join in with Mat Kendrick and Bill Howell now | "Mr O'Neill, where did it all go wrong?" »
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Aston Villa: The day Martin O'Neill was rendered motionless by Liverpool. TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.villabanter.co.uk/cgi-bin/mt421/mt-tb.cgi/115454
As a Liverpool fan, I was obviously delighted by yesterdays result but it could have been very different. Reina made some excellent saves at 1-0 and then we hit you on the break with a strange goal, albeit a fantastic finish from Rieira. That killed off Villas spirit and with us in the form we are in, the game ran away from you. Im happy we beat you 5-0, not just because of the result and what it does for our goal difference, but because Villa are still a very good side and will want to bounce back in the next game. Which is at Old Toilet. Im hoping MO goes back to 4-5-1 for this game with Carew up top on his own. Thats when Villa are at their most dangerous and I reckon you can get a result at Old Toilet.
As a Liverpool fan clearly very delighted with the performance and the result. Having said that it was a harsh red.
Villa are going in the right direction. You have a really good young squad, a quality manager and I really hope you finish 4th.
Haha unsurprisingly only Liverpool fans are commenting on this story (at the moment) and I am going to further that! Firstly though I would like to say what a fair and well written piece this is, show's class, and knowledge and appreciation of football! Some of the things I have read regarding Liverpool from sites of other teams have been far from fair and often just typically brainless and short-sighted rants from no-class morons.
Anyway, I think the second goal was the killer blow yesterday! We started well, and maybe nerves initially got the better of Villa. This is probably due to a lack of recent wins and Liverpool's own recent form. However, Villa definitely came into it and looked dangerous, particularly Carew. Then that goal came and seemed to knock the confidence again, and the game pattern was more or less defined afterwards. The international break may do you some good, with some players having to concentrate on something else other than a winless streak and others able to take a breather for a minute and recharge batteries etc.
Your next game if most definitely a fantastic opportunity to revitalise your season and push for a CL spot. It is very unlikely that this Aston Villa team with that manger will be thrashed two games in a row, and add into that Manu's form and missing players and the scene is set. Of course I have a deeply invested interest in this, but I sincerely hope you get into the top four anyway. Good that there's a fifth team up there now. Your supporter’s just need to keep faith and realise it doesn't happen overnight, which I’m sure most do!!
It was not the most enjoyable game. But it had been inevitable given the way we defended. It quite underlined the club's dependence on the reliable Dane, Martin Laursen.
if - IF! - villa or everton manage to catch arsenal, it'd be pure fluke and a one off. none of them are good enough are as goos as teams in the sc big4 yet.