FOOTBALL Live

Sunday March 22, 2009 Finished Anfield

5 - 0

Liverpool

  • Kuyt 8’
  • Riera 33’
  • Gerrard 39’

Aston Villa

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  1. Gerrard inspires Liverpool romp

    Gerrard inspires Liverpool romp

    Steven Gerrard's first Premier League hat-trick gave Liverpool an emphatic 5-0 victory over Aston Villa at Anfield. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Liverpool
    • Aston Villa
    • 90+3' That's it, full-time, and Liverpool have emphatically brushed Aston Villa aside 5-0 at Anfield thanks to a hat-trick from Steven Gerrard and goals from Albert Riera and Dirk Kuyt! Thanks for joining us.
    • 90 There will be a minimum of three minutes added, which is too long for anyone in blue, but since the flurry of bookings earlier on, Villa have kept their heads despite the result.
    • 89' The songs ring out around Anfield as the match slowly peters out, with almost everyone happy for it to end now with the game done and dusted.
    • 87' Martin O'Neill prepares another substitute, Craig Gardner, who will replace John Carew.
    • 84' Young and Agbonlahor exchange passes to ironic jeers from the home fans, but to the away supporters' credit, they remain in their end undeterred.
    • 81' Kuyt and Aurelio combine effectively down the right wing as Liverpool play the ball around relatively unopposed.
    • 79' Ashley Young trudges slowly across to take a corner, before crossing tamely straight at Reina - poor, but you can understand his dejection.
    • 76' Alvaro Arbeloa is brought off, with Daniel Agger getting a run-out in his place.
    • 75' Rafael Benitez has his subs warming up vigorously as the home fans chant incessantly, with their team passing the ball around at will.
    • 72' Lucas has a decent chance, flashing his shot wide of goal with Guzan scrambling across his line after Torres found his team-mate on the edge of the box.
    • 69' Expect to see Gerrard and Torres taken off imminently, with this match over to all intents and purposes.
    • 67' In the aftermath of the goal, Alonso is taken off with Lucas coming on in his place.
    • 65' GOAL!!! Steven Gerrard gets his first Premier League hat-trick with his second penalty of the game to put Liverpool up 5-0!
    • 64' Torres streaks through on goal, knocks the ball past Brad Friedel, who can't help but bring the forward down and a penalty is given by Martin Atkinson! To compound his misery the American keeper is sent-off!
    • 62' Agbonlahor is continuing to tear around, but is receiving precious little service in attack.
    • 60' John Carew is a solitary figure, despite the introduction of Agbonlahor, who to his credit is charging around tirelessly since he came on.
    • 58' Torres flicks a fine ball over to Kuyt, who was haring down the middle past Davies, but Cuellar steps in to intercept at the crucial moment. Gabriel Agbonlahor is on for Heskey, who receives a fine ovation.
    • 56' Gerrard and Alonso combine swiftly in midfield, before Kuyt is released down the right, but Alonso's final shot goes well wide.
    • 54' The home side are almost playing to the crowd as they stroke the ball around inside their own half.
    • 52' The Villa players look disconsolate as they keep the ball, but without their usual enthusiasm. The Liverpool defence looks solid today.
    • 50' GOAL!!! There is a delay before it is taken, but it is worth the wait - Gerrard side-foots clinically past the helpless Friedel to make it 4-0! That was such a precise finish into the far corner.
    • 48' Liverpool have a very dangerous free-kick on the edge of the penalty area as Carlos Cuellar brings down Torres.
    • 46' As the second half starts it is clear straight away that Emile Heskey has dropped out to the left wing as Martin O'Neill looks to limit the damage.
    • 45+2' That's half-time, and Liverpool are in buoyant mood, leading 3-0 after an emphatic first half display!
    • 45' Two minutes are to be added at the end of this first half, and it can't come soon enough for Martin O'Neill, as he visibly squirms on the touchline at his players' performance.
    • 43' Xabi Alonso, who has been instrumental in everything Liverpool have done from deep in the midfield, mis-places a pass for once, but Young's touch is poor and any potential chance is squandered.
    • 41' Gareth Barry is booked for dissent after remonstrating about the penalty, while Luke Young is also cautioned for a mis-timed tackle on Mascherano.
    • 39' GOAL!!! Gerrard slots it away in exactly the same spot as against Manchester United last week to make it 3-0 Liverpool! Friedel dived the wrong way and the home fans are in first-half delirium.
    • 39' Penalty to Liverpool! Riera storms down the left and cuts into the Villa area, with Reo-Coker bringing him down - Martin Atkinson had no hesitation. Reo-Coker is subsequently booked for his troubles.
    • 38' The Anfield faithful are in raucous mood as their team look like adding to their lead. Villa are finding it increasingly difficult to hold the ball in their opponent's half.
    • 36' Arbeloa wastes a glorious chance to give Liverpool a three-goal lead after Friedel inexplicably passes the ball straight to him with no Villa players near. But the keeper is given a reprieve as the defender decides not to shoot, instead teeing up Kuyt, but Davies intercepts.
    • 35' Gerrard latches on to a knock down from Kuyt and drills a shot wide of Friedel's far post.
    • 33' GOAL!!! Riera finishes emphatically with a volley after waiting for Reina's long punt up field to bounce over Reo-Coker's head and split the visitors' defence - 2-0 Liverpool!
    • 33' Fabio Aurelio knocks over Milner, who wins a free-kick inside the Reds' half, but Gareth Barry wastes it.
    • 32' Skrtel does well to track Carew all the way back to the edge of the Liverpool area after the striker cushioned the ball down perfectly into his path from Cuellar's long ball.
    • 30' Friedel attempts to calm the game down by exchanging a very slow one-two with Curtis Davies, before releasing Reo-Coker down the right.
    • 28' Liverpool are keeping the tempo of this match very high with some slick passing from midfield, and their back-four are not dwelling on the ball for longer than necessary - Villa are looking to hit them on the break through Ashley Young and James Milner.
    • 26' Reina pulls out a terrific point-blank save from John Carew, after the Norwegian's powerful header looked to be heading into the far corner of his goal.
    • 24' Fine wing play from Arbeloa as the full-back maraudes down the right once more, but his cut-back to Torres leads to nothing as the striker strokes his shot tamely at Friedel. Meanwhile, Gerrard is booked for a mis-timed tackle.
    • 22' An exquisite flick from John Carew almost beats Reina, but the Spaniard manages to avert the danger - Villa are edging their way back into the game on the break.
    • 20' Superb interplay between James Milner and Ashley Young down the Villa right almost yields an opening, Milner's cross from the byline had nobody to covert it as Reina parried away to safety.
    • 18' Skrtel comes up to join five other Liverpool players in the box as Alonso whips in a corner, but Cuellar does well to clear under pressure from Gerrard.
    • 16' Gerrard comes mighty close to doubling Liverpool's lead, lunging in at the back post to try to convert Riera's deep cross.
    • 14' Rafael Benitez is suddenly sparked into action as he and Sammy Lee both bark instructions at their players, who are keeping the ball very efficiently at the moment.
    • 12' Torres stretches the Villa defence, charging down the right wing and catching Luke Young out of position, but Curtis Davies does well to cover.
    • 10' Arbeloa links up well with Gerrard down the right and the full-back cuts inside and comes close with a low drive which has Friedel scrambling across his line - this match is ridiculously open!
    • 8' GOAL!!! Gerrard fizzes in the free-kick and Xabi Alonso's header crashes against the bar, leaving Dirk Kuyt to smash home a shot which comprehensively beats Brad Friedel!
    • 7' Reo-Coker dallies at right-back and Albert Riera catches him out, winning a dangerous free-kick in the process.
    • 5' A period of head-tennis ensues on halfway, before a flick-through by Torres releases Gerrard, but his touch eludes him while running towards goal at pace.
    • 4 Villa, with 10 away wins in 14 games, break through James Milner down the right, who latches on to a knock-down by Heskey, but sees his shot deflected wide for a corner.
    • 2' Immediately a long ball to Heskey, and the England striker is adjudged to have fouled Martin Skrtel - it will be a bruising encounter up there, taking into account John Carew and Jamie Carragher too.
    • 1' At a packed Anfield the roars ring out, as Villa in their Blue change strip kick us off.
    • - Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez brings Martin Skrtel back into the heart of his defence at the expense of Sami Hyypia, with Albert Riera on the left and Dirk Kuyt supporting Fernando Torres. Meanwhile, Martin O'Neill starts with both John Carew and Emile Heskey up front, leaving Gabriel Agbonlahor on the bench. Zat Knight also drops to the bench, with Nigel Reo-Coker at left-back and Carlos Cuellar partnering Curtis Davies.

  • Team Stats

    Liverpool Stats Aston Villa
    62% Possession 37%
    19 Shots 7
    7 Shots on target 3
    3 Saves 1
    4 Corners 6
    13 Fouls 10
    1 Offsides 2
    1 Yellow cards 3
    0 Red cards 1
    28 Tackles 23
    461 Accurate passes 237
    59 Bad passes 54

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Liverpool
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      25 Jose Reina 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 20 1 0
      12 Fabio Aurelio 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 48 11 4
      17 Alvaro Arbeloa 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 31 0 5
      23 Jamie Carragher 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 42 4 2
      37 Martin Skrtel 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 39 0 2
      20 Javier Mascherano 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 63 7 5
      11 Albert Riera 1 1 1 1 4 0 0 49 11 3
      8 Steven Gerrard 3 6 3 1 0 0 0 32 8 1
      14 Xabi Alonso 0 2 0 2 0 0 1 60 7 3
      18 Dirk Kuyt 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 35 2 1
      9 Fernando Torres 0 3 1 0 1 1 0 11 4 0
      24 David Ngog 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0
      1 Diego Cavalieri 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Lucas Leiva 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 15 1 2
      5 Daniel Agger 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 12 1 0
      4 Sami Hyypia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      31 Nabil El Zhar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      2 Andrea Dossena 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Aston Villa
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Brad Friedel 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 2 0
      2 Luke Young 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 23 13 4
      15 Curtis Davies 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 12 0 4
      24 Carlos Cuéllar 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 24 0 1
      6 Gareth Barry 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 36 11 5
      8 James Milner 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 24 2 3
      20 Nigel Reo-Coker 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 23 0 2
      7 Ashley Young 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 9 9 0
      19 Stilian Petrov 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 37 9 2
      18 Emile Heskey 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 14 1 0
      10 John Carew 0 3 2 1 1 1 0 16 5 1
      22 Brad Guzan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
      11 Gabriel Agbonlahor 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 2 1
      21 Nicky Shorey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      17 Moustapha Salifou 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Zatyiah Knight 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      26 Craig Gardner 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
      14 Nathan Delfouneso 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 72' Lucas has a decent chance, flashing his shot wide of goal with Guzan scrambling across his line after Torres found his team-mate on the edge of the box.
    • 65' GOAL!!! Steven Gerrard gets his first Premier League hat-trick with his second penalty of the game to put Liverpool up 5-0!
    • 64' Torres streaks through on goal, knocks the ball past Brad Friedel, who can't help but bring the forward down and a penalty is given by Martin Atkinson! To compound his misery the American keeper is sent-off!
    • 50' GOAL!!! There is a delay before it is taken, but it is worth the wait - Gerrard side-foots clinically past the helpless Friedel to make it 4-0! That was such a precise finish into the far corner.
    • 39' GOAL!!! Gerrard slots it away in exactly the same spot as against Manchester United last week to make it 3-0 Liverpool! Friedel dived the wrong way and the home fans are in first-half delirium.
    • 39' Penalty to Liverpool! Riera storms down the left and cuts into the Villa area, with Reo-Coker bringing him down - Martin Atkinson had no hesitation. Reo-Coker is subsequently booked for his troubles.
    • 36' Arbeloa wastes a glorious chance to give Liverpool a three-goal lead after Friedel inexplicably passes the ball straight to him with no Villa players near. But the keeper is given a reprieve as the defender decides not to shoot, instead teeing up Kuyt, but Davies intercepts.
    • 33' GOAL!!! Riera finishes emphatically with a volley after waiting for Reina's long punt up field to bounce over Reo-Coker's head and split the visitors' defence - 2-0 Liverpool!
    • 26' Reina pulls out a terrific point-blank save from John Carew, after the Norwegian's powerful header looked to be heading into the far corner of his goal.
    • 22' An exquisite flick from John Carew almost beats Reina, but the Spaniard manages to avert the danger - Villa are edging their way back into the game on the break.
    • 20' Superb interplay between James Milner and Ashley Young down the Villa right almost yields an opening, Milner's cross from the byline had nobody to covert it as Reina parried away to safety.
    • 16' Gerrard comes mighty close to doubling Liverpool's lead, lunging in at the back post to try to convert Riera's deep cross.
    • 8' GOAL!!! Gerrard fizzes in the free-kick and Xabi Alonso's header crashes against the bar, leaving Dirk Kuyt to smash home a shot which comprehensively beats Brad Friedel!
    • - Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez brings Martin Skrtel back into the heart of his defence at the expense of Sami Hyypia, with Albert Riera on the left and Dirk Kuyt supporting Fernando Torres. Meanwhile, Martin O'Neill starts with both John Carew and Emile Heskey up front, leaving Gabriel Agbonlahor on the bench. Zat Knight also drops to the bench, with Nigel Reo-Coker at left-back and Carlos Cuellar partnering Curtis Davies.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Martin Atkinson

  • Liverpool

    Manager: Rafael Benitez

    Captain: Steven Gerrard

    Starting line-up

    • J. Reina
    • A. Arbeloa
    • J. Carragher
    • M. Skrtel
    • F. Aurelio
    • J. Mascherano
    • X. Alonso
    • D. Kuyt Goal
    • S. Gerrard Goal Yellow Card
    • A. Riera Goal
    • F. Torres

    Subs

    • S. Hyypia
    • A. Dossena
    • D. Agger
    • D. N'Gog
    • N. El Zhar
    • L. Lucas
    • D. Cavalieri

    Injured

    • P. Degen

    Suspended

    None

  • Aston Villa

    Manager: Martin O'Neill

    Captain: Gareth Barry

    Starting line-up

    • B. Friedel
    • N. Reo-Coker Yellow Card
    • C. Cuellar
    • C. Davies
    • L. Young Yellow Card
    • J. Milner
    • G. Barry Yellow Card
    • S. Petrov
    • A. Young
    • J. Carew
    • E. Heskey

    Subs

    • Z. Knight
    • N. Shorey
    • M. Salifou
    • C. Gardner
    • G. Agbonlahor
    • B. Guzan
    • N. Delfouneso

    Injured

    • M. Laursen

    Suspended

    None

Comment 1414 - 1433 of 1433

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. liverpool are playing there best football HAHA NOOBS­ man you lost to the blues lol omg HAHAH

    From James, on Sun 12 Apr 3:06PM

  2. liverpool are playing there best football now rafa as­ signed. come on you reds

    From barbara633, on Fri 3 Apr 10:12PM

  3. liverpol liverpol liverpol liverpol liverpol liverpol

    From norisadiku, on Fri 3 Apr 5:07PM

  4. Liverpol 5 : 0 Aston villa

    From norisadiku, on Fri 3 Apr 5:03PM

  5. glory glory man-united glory glory man-united glory­ glory man-united liverpool r @#$% and man-u rule­ liverpool r scousers

    From dannyshelton35, on Thu 2 Apr 10:58PM

  6. liverpool cant get better

    From Matthew, on Sun 29 Mar 9:27PM

  7. gerrard the best

    From MARTIN, on Fri 27 Mar 4:51PM

  8. raffas gonna get ya,raffas gonna get ya! ­ raffaraffaraffaraffa,raffaraffaraffaraffa!!!!!

    From wneedle, on Fri 27 Mar 1:50PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    glory glory man utd glory glory man utd loe man utd i­ sthe best liverpool is nothing!!!!!!!

    From jaroslaw.mioczarek, on Thu 26 Mar 6:31PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Liverpoll is @#$%!!!!!!!!!!!! lalalalalalala

    From jaroslaw.mioczarek, on Thu 26 Mar 6:29PM

  11. liverpool rox! man u sux!! c'mon u reds get out­ there n show 'em!

    From Beverley, on Thu 26 Mar 11:42AM

  12. by everybody

    From Mohamed, on Wed 25 Mar 12:09AM

  13. the bast player of is F.Torres and Steven Gerard and­ Kuyt and Riera

    From Mohamed, on Wed 25 Mar 12:07AM

  14. (Liverpool song )___Liverpool - you'll never walk­ alone

    From Mohamed, on Wed 25 Mar 12:02AM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I hit Manchester United
    W.Rooney and C.Ronalda

    From Mohamed, on Tue 24 Mar 11:58PM

  16. Liverpool is best team Premier League

    From Mohamed, on Tue 24 Mar 11:52PM

  17. So much for the Champions League. Hahaha! I guess­ Barry's going to Liverpond after all.

    From Mack Daddy, on Mon 23 Mar 10:50PM

  18. liverpool will win the league

    From Lilly, on Mon 23 Mar 7:18PM

  19. Great to see the Mighty Reds playing with such­ confidence! Rafa has committed to the Club, this will­ only cement our future success! Stevie G is without­ doubt the BEST player in that position, he rules the­ field and raises everyone else's game!

    Keep it up­ lads, lets bring the title bacj to what is the HOME OF­ FOOTBALL!!

    From Phil, on Mon 23 Mar 7:11PM

  20. liverpool

    From nnthiduyen, on Mon 23 Mar 6:25PM
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