Aston Villa and Liverpool Draw in High Scoring, Sloppy Affair
With just two games remaining, a top-four clash between Aston Villa and Liverpool should have been an important game for both teams on paper. However, with the dominance of Arsenal and Man City, and the separation between Villa and Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp’s men were locked into third place. Unai Emery’s squad would clinch fourth place and a Champions League spot with a win, a big step for the club not usually in the discussion among the Premier League’s top clubs. In front of their home crowd, Villa couldn’t quite get it done after a late comeback, drawing Liverpool with a score of 3-3.
For Aston Villa, it was the worst start possible when World Cup-winning keeper Emi Martinez committed a baffling error just a minute into the game. After a deflected cross from Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliot, Martinez fumbled the ball into his own net, a shocking mistake from the veteran keeper. While a significant setback to kickstart the game, Aston Villa showed why they are in contention for the top four by fighting back. Liverpool dominated possession early on, but on a quick counter-attack, Ollie Watkins got to the end line and sent a cross back towards the penalty spot to an all-alone Youri Tielemans who rifled the ball into the bottom left corner in the 12th minute, leaving Liverpool keeper Alisson frozen in place. In the 23rd minute, Liverpool finally took advantage of their advantage in possession with a Cody Gakpo goal after a Joe Gomez cross grazed the outstretched hands of a diving Martinez. After some key missed goal-scoring opportunities from Moussa Diaby and Diego Carlos, the first half finished 2-1 in favor of Liverpool, who had more possession with 58% compared to 42%, but it was Aston Villa who had higher expected goals 1.9 to 1.17 and shots eight to six than Liverpool.
The second half was more of the same, with Liverpool having more possession and scoring in the first few minutes of the half. An Elliot free kick to the back right post landed perfectly on the head of a leaping Jarell Quansah, whose header hit the far left post and went in during the 48th minute to extend the lead to 3-1. Five minutes later, Watkins thought he had his 20th goal of the season, but after a VAR review, Leon Bailey, who crossed the ball to Watkins, was deemed offside. Liverpool kept the possession advantage in the second half, but Aston Villa kept generating more chances than Liverpool. It wasn’t until Jhon Durán and Calum Chambers subbed on in the 80th minute that Villa took advantage of their chances. After Alexis Mac Allister gave away the ball off a goal kick, Chambers assisted Durán to make it 3-2 in the 85th minute. In the 89th minute, Diaby fired a pass into the knee of Durán which deflected the ball into the bottom right corner to tie the game 3-3. The home crowd tried to spur Villa on for a winner, but the game finished tied in what felt like a fair result for both teams.
