English Premier League Recap and Video Highlights: Aston Villa stuns Liverpool 3-1
The English Premier League began its third week of matches with Liverpool v Aston Villa on Monday August 24, 2009. Here’s a full recap of Monday’s match along with video highlights.
Aston Villa stuns Liverpool 3-1 – Video Highlights
1st Half
The first half started with Liverpool getting several chances. They nearly scored only about 30 seconds as Aston Villa goalkeeper had to come out and deflect a header. The home side continued to control the match but couldn’t convert and seemed to lack the cutting edge in the final third. Aston Villa slowly began working their way into the match and earned free kicks and corners. As the first half drew on, the Liverpool crowd grew anxious as Villa starting to play with mroe confidence.
Liverpool’s inability to convert on their chances came back to bite them as Villa got a free kick which resulted in their first goal of the half. Ashley Young lined up to take a free kick and sent it in to the box as it deflected off Liverpool player Lucas (who was trying to head it out of play) and past Reina for an own goal. It was an unlucky goal but Villa played a solid first half that kepy Liverpool off the scoring sheet.
As the first half winded down, Villa had one more shot as they earned a late corner kick. It was literally in the last few seconds the corner was taken and centerback Curtis Davies headed it past Reina for the second Villa goal. The first half would end it 2-0 for Villa as Liverpool played a very disappointing 45 minutes.
2nd Half
The second half started like the first with Liverpool getting chances and pressuring the Aston Villa defense. Unfortunately for Liverpool they couldn’t convert on any chances and the Villa defense held strong. It seemed as if Liverpool would get at least one goal and get back in the match but it wouldn’t be until almost 30 minutes into the half before that would happen. After several chances and shots on goal, Fernando Torres received a pass in front of the goal and beat Friedel to cut the lead in half. It seemed Liverpool had turned the momentum and would at worst get a draw.
Aston Villa came right back and refused to concede the match as they earned a penalty kick. Nigel Reo-Coker earned the penalty as he made a good run into the box and Steven Gerrard made a bad tackle. Ashley Young stepped up to take the penalty and converted it with confidence to give Aston Villa the 3-1 lead. The final minutes of the match saw Liverpool continued to push forward but they couldn’t get any more goals and the Villa defense was solid throughout the night. It’s Liverpool’s second loss in three matches and a great road win for Aston Villa.
| MATCH STATS | ||
| Liverpool | Aston Villa | |
| Shots (on Goal) | 24(11) | 8(4) |
| Fouls | 14 | 11 |
| Corner Kicks | 10 | 4 |
| Offsides | 1 | 3 |
| Time of Possession | 68% | 32% |
| Yellow Cards | 3 | 2 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
| Saves | 2 | 10 |
| SCORING SUMMARY | |
| Liverpool | Aston Villa |
| Fernando Torres (72) | Lucas (og 34) |
| Curtis Davies (45) | |
| Ashley Young (pen 75) | |
