Defeat for Gerrard on emotional return trip to Anfield
Liverpool fans clap legend as Villa lose Liverpool 1 Salah 67 pen Aston Villa 0
AS the teams walked out at Anfield, the Kop held up icons to the departed. There was a banner paying tribute to Ray Kennedy, the midfield great of the 1970s and early ’80s, who died last month. There was another that remembered Roger Hunt, the Liverpool and England hero, who died in the autumn. And another for Anne Williams, the campaigner and bereaved mother, whose fight for justice for those who died at Hillsborough moved so many.
Steven Gerrard stood in his technical area — the away team technical area — and looked around at all the history and the love. He listened as the fans belted out You’ll Never Walk Alone, the song that was once the soundtrack of his life, and gazed around at the stadium where he played out so many of his childhood dreams. He stood on the touchline as the supporters clapped a minute’s applause for Kennedy and applauded with them.
He was not here as one of them this afternoon. For the first time in his life, he was here to try to beat them. He was here to try to get a result for Aston Villa, where he has made such a good start in the weeks he’s been in charge.
He had been at pains to stress that in the lead-up to the match. ‘If I’m on the bus heading back down the M6 towards Birmingham and I’m not the most popular at Anfield, so be it,’ he had said.
The Liverpool fans had applauded him when he first emerged from the tunnel for the first time since he left in 2015. Then they had hastily broken into a chant of ‘Liverpool, Liverpool’. They had to remind themselves Gerrard was here as the manager of Villa and however much they may still revere him, he was also the enemy for the afternoon.
Gradually, the emotion of the return was overtaken by the rhythm of the match. This is a better Liverpool team than any of the ones Gerrard played for. He carried the club for many of his 504 league games here and even though he played with some fine footballers, he never had the supporting cast he would have had if he were playing for Jurgen Klopp now.
Liverpool were not at their best against Villa but that does not mean they were not impressive. Andy Robertson was, as he often is, a force of nature down the left, raiding forward time after time, forcing a fine early save out of Emi Martinez when his header deflected off Matty Cash and the Villa keeper had to dive sharply to his right to push it away.
Robertson provided the danger again when his cross found Mo Salah in the middle. Salah dummied so that it ran on to Trent AlexanderArnold but the full-back’s shot was deflected over the bar.
Villa soaked up the pressure as best they could but there was the occasional alarm for the home team. Ashley Young, evergreen in the Villa attack, lifted the ball over Alisson as he came rushing out to meet him, but could not find a team-mate to steer the ball into the unguarded goal.
Seven minutes after half-time, Liverpool thought they had scored when Virgil van Dijk rose highest to meet an outswinging Robertson corner from the left. He connected with it beautifully and it was bound for the top corner until Martinez arched his back and pushed the ball acrobatically over the bar. Van Dijk turned away in frustration.
Liverpool stepped up the pressure and midway through the half, Villa finally cracked. Salah ran at Tyrone Mings in the Villa box and as the pair jostled for possession, their feet tangled and referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot. Salah rose from the turf and lashed the penalty low to the right of Martinez. The Villa keeper guessed the right way but could not stop it.
No one was thinking about Stevie G any more. He stood on the touchline, bowed his head and then stared over to where the Liverpool players were celebrating.
Gerrard almost spoiled their afternoon. Four minutes from time,
Villa substitute Danny Ings looked as though he might have been brought down by Alisson after the keeper and Joel Matip had got themselves into a dreadful mess, but the referee waved play on.
‘Ultimately,’ Gerrard said, ‘the game’s been decided by a penalty. Liverpool got theirs, we didn’t get ours. It feels harsh.’
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold,
Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho,
Thiago (Milner 84); Mane (Minamino 88), OxladeChamberlain (Jota 58), Salah. Subs (not used):
Konate, Keita, Gomez, Tsimikas, Kelleher, Williams. Booked: Van Dijk.
ASTON VILLA (4-3-3): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; McGinn, Nakamba (Sanson 57), Douglas Luiz; Ramsey (Ings 74), Watkins, Young (Buendia 69). Subs (not used): Steer, Tuanzebe, Trezeguet, El Ghazi, Hause, Carney Chukwuemeka. Booked: Nakamba, Watkins.
Referee: Stuart Attwell.