Aston Villa 3-3 Liverpool: Talking points as Villa work hard for late point but fail to secure top-four finish

In the closing match of the penultimate round of the season in the Premier League, Aston Villa welcomed Liverpool to Villa Park on Monday evening. The Merseysiders traveled to Birmingham with nothing left to play for but pride as they prepare to say farewell to manager Jurgen Klopp, while Villa played to secure Champions League qualification, needing to win for that to happen.

An Emiliano Martiez own-goal gave the visitors the lead after less than two minutes, and though Youri Tielemans equalized in the 12th, Liverpool went to the break ahead through Cody Gakpo who got on the scoresheet in the 23rd. When Jarell Quansah increased the visitors’ lead in the 48th minute, it there seemed to be little hope for Unai Emery and his team to get anything from the game, but a late brace from substitute Jhon Duran (85′, 88′) eventually earned them a point.

The game

The lack of pressure obviously suited Liverpool, especially early on as they pressed high and attacked from the start. Their initiative paid off straight away, with an uncharacteristic mistake by Martinez breaking the deadlock in the second minute.

It took the home side around 10 minutes to do something meaningful at the other end, and another two to get back on level terms as Watkins got the better of Quansah on the left, before setting up Tielemans for a relatively easy shot from just inside the box. Boosted by the equalizer, Villa improved their game significantly, but Liverpool struck again very soon with Martinez saving Gomez’s shot from a tight angle only for Gakpo to get an easy tap-in.

Villa really should’ve equalized again on two occasions, first in the 36th minute through Diego Carlos who mishit the ball at a yard from the gaping Liverpool goal, and then in the 43rd when Moussa Diaby wasted a very good chance.

Punishment came straight after the break in the form of a flying leap from Quansah who headed into the very top corner. Watkins believed he had pulled one back in the…

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Author : Veselin Trajkovic

Publish date : 2024-05-13 22:11:36

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