Liverpool beat Aston Villa 3-1 on their return to the Premier League on Boxing Day after a tough encounter.
Venue: Villa Park
Referee: Paul Tierney
Stefan Bajcetic scored his first goal as Liverpool overcame a minor scare on Boxing Day to seal a 3-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa.
With Unai Emery’s men missing several chances, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk gave the Reds a 2-0 lead before half-time.
Ollie Watkins gave the hosts a well-deserved ray of hope early in the second half but Bajcetic settled the dispute by becoming Spain’s youngest goalscorer in the Premier League behind Cesc Fabregas.
Jurgen Klopp’s prey took the game by the throat from kickoff and it took the Reds just four minutes to draw first blood as Andrew Robertson saw Salah head in from just yards out after a great ball. Trent Alexander-Arnold kicked the ball out of a boot pass to a fellow winger.
Robertson opened the scoring for Salah and recorded his 54th Premier League assist. In doing so, he broke the record for centre-back previously held by former Everton man Leighton Baines.
Liverpool may have held their tails up but their heads were in the hands of the home fans when Leon Bailey headed in from his own line in the 13th minute after his missed shot flew harmlessly through the air.
Alisson Becker was on hand to save Watkins’ header in the 17th minute, with Villa standing a little behind the Liverpool defense and Joel Matip’s header being rejected in what would have been Robertson’s 55th Premier League assist.
Tyrone Mings was a key factor in keeping Liverpool on target but the Villa defender was unlucky in the 37th minute when Salah kept the ball alive from a corner and set up Van Dijk, whose low shot found the target. Mings cut the net for the second red.
At half-time there was probably no more grateful man at the stadium than Darwin Núñez, whose catalog of missed chances marked his EFL Cup night at Manchester City last week, and the Uruguayan was also absent from attack at Villa Park.
Watkins wasn’t covered in glory in the first half either, but scored a goal 40 seconds into the second half despite being substituted a little early and flagged for offside.
A frantic start to the second half gave both sides plenty of chances and Villa found a goal worthy of their new spark when Douglas Luiz’s cross from the right caught Watkins’ head, who left Alisson on his feet to head in reduce.
Now pushing for an equaliser, the Lions delighted a cheering crowd who were amused by another missed chance from Nunez in the 75th minute as the striker found Salah’s wonderful pass but his shot went wide.
In the 81st minute, however, Núñez laughed as the Liverpool player almost parried the ball over the rim and stabbed Robin Olsen in the palms, who could only deflect the ball to the 18-year-old. Bajcetic.
The Spain youth international got past Olsen and shot through Mings’ legs to restore Liverpool’s two-goal lead and a number of other notable changes followed in the last five minutes.
Philippe Coutinho was eliminated early by his former club and 17-year-old Liverpool star Ben Doak made his Premier League debut in place of Núñez to a standing ovation from the visitors.
Liverpool weathered pressure from the hosts to win by two goals ahead of Friday’s game against Leicester City, while Villa face a baptism of fire against Tottenham Hotspur on New Year’s Day 2023.
Lineups:
Aston Villa:
Olsen, Konsa, A Young, Digne, Mings, Buendía (Ings 86′), Kamara (Coutinho 86′), Luiz, McGinn, Watkins, Bailey (Dendoncker 86′).
Subs not used: Marschall, Bednarek, Cash, Archer, Chambers, K Young.
Liverpool:
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (Gomez 79′), Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson (Bajcetic 79′), Thiago (Keïta 67′), Fabinho, Núñez (Doak 88′), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Elliott 67′), Salah.
Subs not used: Phillips, Kelleher, Tsimikas, Carvalho.
Scorers:
Man of the Match : M. Salah (Liverpool)
Match Stats:
