FT: ASTON VILLA 0-2 LIVERPOOL

Date: Sunday 18 December 2011
Kick Off: 14:05
Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham
Competition: Barclays Premier League
Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)
Broadcast: Sky Sports 1, 14:00


LIVE ARTICLE

http://www.ja606.co.uk/articles/viewLiveArticle/66543


Liverpool continued their good away form this season by beating Aston Villa 2-0 at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Reds looked completely comfortable from start to finish, and were unlucky not to score at least double the amount of goals they actually did.

It was a flying start to the match for Liverpool as just 11 minutes had elapsed when Craig Bellamy struck. Stewart Downing crossed in from a corner, and flicks from Jonjo Shelvey and Luis Suarez eventually resulted in the ball falling kindly for the Welshman, who made no mistake from close range.

And just four minutes later, Liverpool had the second. Bellamy turned from scorer to provider with a cross of his own from another corner kick, and Martin Skrtel rose to head into the far corner.

The rest of the second half was somewhat flat, as Liverpool took their foot off the gas and Villa, without their two main strikers Gabriel Agbonlahor and Darren Bent, could not find a way through the Reds' organised defence.

But in the second half, Liverpool threatened once again. Luis Suarez made a good run with the ball before crashing his shot against the crossbar, and later in the half he chipped the ball goalwards only to see it bounce back off the post. Charlie Adam also had an effort blocked, but neither side could add to the scoreline and the Reds comfortably saw the rest of the game out.

Liverpool are now level on points with fifth-placed Arsenal, who play Manchester City later today, while Tottenham Hotspur lie two points ahead in fourth place and are currently in action against Sunderland.


LIVE SCOREBOARD

ASTON VILLA - 0


LIVERPOOL - 2
Bellamy 11'
Skrtel 15'


LIVE LEAGUE POSITIONS

6. Liverpool - Pld 16, W 8, D 5, L 3, F 20, A 13, GD 7, Pts 29.
10. Aston Villa - Pld 16, W 4, D 7, L 5, F 18, A 21, GD -3, Pts 19.


TEAMS

Aston Villa
22 Guzan
2 Hutton
5 Dunne
6 Collins
3 Warnock
12 Albrighton
16 Delph (Weimann 80')
19 Petrov
10 N'Zogbia
18 Heskey (Bannan 57')
14 Delfouneso

Subs: 33 Marshall, 21 Clarke, 24 Cuellar, 25 Bannan, 26 Weimann, 35 Johnson, 36 Burke.

Liverpool
25 Reina
2 Johnson
37 Skrtel
5 Agger
3 Enrique
19 Downing
14 Henderson
26 Adam
39 Bellamy (Kuyt 89')
33 Shelvey (Carragher 83')
7 Suarez (Carroll 74')

Subs: 32 Doni, 9 Carroll, 11 Rodriguez, 16 Coates, 18 Kuyt,
23 Carragher, 34 Kelly.


KEY UPDATES

11: GOAL - ASTON VILLA 0-1 LIVERPOOL
Stewart Downing whips in a corner kick from the right and Jonjo Shelvey flicks it on, Luis Suarez attempts to flick it into the net but his effort is saved, before Craig Bellamy slots in the rebound.

13: Charles N'Zogbia booked for a foul on Glen Johnson.

15: GOAL - ASTON VILLA 0-2 LIVERPOOL
Craig Bellamy whips in a corner kick from the left and Martin Skrtel runs in to head it into the far corner.

28: Charlie Adam booked for a foul on Emile Heskey.

30: Craig Bellamy booked for a foul on Alan Hutton.

57: Emile Heskey replaced by Barry Bannan.

74: Luis Suarez replaced by Andy Carroll.

80: Fabian Delph replaced by Andreas Weimann.

83: Jonjo Shelvey replaced by Jamie Carragher.

89: Craig Bellamy replaced by Dirk Kuyt.


LAST MATCHES

Aston Villa
Saturday 10 December 2011
Barclays Premier League
Bolton 1-2 Aston Villa

Liverpool
Saturday 10 December 2011
Barclays Premier League
Liverpool 1-0 QPR

Head to head
Sunday 22 May 2011
Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa 1-0 Liverpool


TOP SCORERS

Aston Villa
Gabriel Agbonlahor - 5
Darren Bent - 5
Stiliyan Petrov - 3

Liverpool
Luis Suarez - 8
Craig Bellamy - 3
Andy Carroll - 3