Mohamed Salah’s 250th Liverpool goal and Ryan Gravenberch’s strike secure a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, lifting the Reds to third place.
LIVERPOOL snapped a four-game Premier League losing streak with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday, marked by Mohamed Salah’s 250th goal for the club.
Salah capitalised on a mistake by Emiliano Martinez to open the scoring before Ryan Gravenberch’s deflected effort sealed a much-needed win that moves the defending champions up to third in the table.
“I’m glad we are back on track now,” said Salah.
“It’s a very tricky season for us because we have a few new players, they are very good players but they need time to adapt.”
“We lost some players too. It takes time to adapt and know each other’s games, but everything will be fine.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slot’s decision to make wholesale changes for Wednesday’s 3-0 League Cup exit to Crystal Palace had increased pressure on his returning stars to end a run of six defeats in seven games across all competitions.
“What I liked most was that I think everybody here felt the importance of the game. I’m talking about my players and I’m talking about the fans,” said Slot.
“From start to finish the players showed up.”
Liverpool had conceded inside the first 15 minutes during their four consecutive Premier League defeats and nearly paid for another slow start when Morgan Rogers hit the post after just five minutes.
Villa cut through Liverpool’s press with ease early on but soon became architects of their own downfall by playing out from the back.
The visitors received a let-off when Dominik Szoboszlai robbed Pau Torres but fired weakly into Martinez’s arms with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Hugo Ekitike powered a header past the Argentine goalkeeper only for a VAR review to show the Frenchman was clearly offside from Szoboszlai’s cross.
Villa failed to heed their warning as a terrible error from Martinez presented Salah with the chance to roll his landmark goal into an unguarded net just before half-time.
The Egyptian’s struggles have significantly contributed to Liverpool’s difficult start to the season, but he now has five goals this campaign and sits behind only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt as the club’s third-highest goalscorer.
The goal ended Liverpool’s seven-game run of conceding first, and their confidence began to return during a dominant second-half performance.
Villa had won their last four league games, including notable victories against Tottenham and Manchester City, starting the day level on points with Liverpool.
However, Unai Emery’s men struggled to cope with a fired-up Liverpool after the break.
Gravenberch was badly missed due to an ankle injury in last weekend’s 3-2 defeat at Brentford.
The Dutch midfielder had fortune on his side for Liverpool’s second goal when he surged onto Alexis Mac Allister’s pass before his strike deceived Martinez thanks to a deflection off Pau Torres.
A first clean sheet in 11 games completed a perfect start to a big week for Slot’s team.
Real Madrid visit Anfield in the Champions League on Tuesday before a trip to Manchester City next weekend.
A disastrous run had left Liverpool with a mountain to climb if they hope to catch Arsenal and defend their title.
Cutting the gap to the Gunners back to seven points represents an important first step in hauling themselves back into the title race. – AFP
