Liverpool down hapless Villa

Liverpool moved up to sixth place in the Premier League with a comfortable 2-0 success at Aston Villa.

Poor Villa defending from set-pieces allowed Liverpool to race into a two-goal advantage within the opening 15 minutes.

Craig Bellamy tapped in the opener from close range before an unmarked Martin Skrtel netted a brilliant glancing header.

Tenth-place Villa, missing key strikers Darren Bent and Gabriel Agbonlahor, showed little bite in attacking positions on a frustrating afternoon for the Villa Park crowd.

And the scoreline could have been even worse with Luis Suarez twice crashing efforts against the home woodwork after the break.

Former Villa winger Stewart Downing was booed by the home fans after his £20million summer move but he and Bellamy caused problems down both flanks as Liverpool controlled proceedings from the first whistle.

And Villa, who have now lost three of their last four home games, seldom looked like breaching the tightest defence in the Premier League.

But they were also guilty of frequently giving the ball away and only skipper Stiliyan Petrov had composure in midfield.

Downing managed Liverpool's first effort on goal following a cross-field ball from Bellamy when he forced Brad Guzan to save at the foot of the post.

Then after 11 minutes Downing played a part in Bellamy giving Liverpool the lead.

His corner found Suarez inside the box and a back heel forced a fine instinctive save out of Guzan but Bellamy reacted first to the rebound for a simple tap-in.

After 15 minutes Liverpool doubled their lead through Skrtel - and from another corner.

Villa failed to pick up the central defender as he attacked a Bellamy cross and his glancing header flew past Guzan into the top corner.

The home side tried to counter-attack and a long-range attempt from N'Zogbia was just off-target before he hit a powerful shot into the side-netting moments later.

Another chance went begging when Delfouneso could not keep his header down from Albrighton's free-kick.

But Liverpool continued to look more dangerous and Richard Dunne blocked a first-time attempt from Shelvey after he ran on to Suarez's pass.

Liverpool began the second half on the offensive and twice went close to adding to their lead.

Bellamy's pace took him clear of the Villa defence down the left flank and his cross was headed wide by Daniel Agger.

Then Suarez showed sublime skill in evading the challenges of Dunne and James Collins and from 10 yards out he crashed his shot against the bar.

Villa were giving the ball away too easily and a mistake by Stephen Warnock allowed Johnson time to line up a shot which was turned aside by Guzan.

Reina was forced into a rare save in getting his body behind a low effort from N'Zogbia.

But Suarez was denied by the woodwork again after chipping Guzan following a pinpoint 40 yard ball from Downing.

Guzan turned aside Shelvey's cross-shot and Adam had shot deflected wide when Shelvey was unmarked 10 yards out to his left.

Dalglish brought on Andy Carroll after 74 minutes for Suarez who was given a standing ovation by the Liverpool fans.

Villa huffed and puffed as they looked for an unlikely way back into the game during the latter stages.

But they could not break down a resolute Liverpool defence as the visitors clinched a deserved victory.

Source: Sky Sports

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.