Source: Telegraph
Steven Gerrard inspires Liverpool's title charge as Aston Villa are thrashed
Liverpool, inspired once again by the remarkable Steven Gerrard, moved to within a point of Manchester United by dismantling Aston Villa at Anfield. [LNB]Gerrard's first Premier League hat-trick means Liverpool have now beaten United, Villa and Real Madrid in the space of 11 days – scoring 13 goals and conceding just one. [LNB] Related ArticlesPremier League action[LNB]Latest standings and statistics[LNB]Top 10: Worst spitting incidents in football[LNB]Liverpool v Real Madrid: Raul and Reina both seek Kop inspiration[LNB]Rafael Benitez fears Fernando Torres burn-out as Liverpool maintain title challenge[LNB]Premier League team news: Sunday squads, statistics and betting guide[LNB]United still have a game in hand, but with Liverpool in such breathtaking form the champions are now under genuine pressure following their shock 2-0 defeat against Fulham on Saturday. [LNB]Gerrard converted two penalties – against different goalkeepers following Brad Friedel's dismissal – and also swept home a free kick. Dirk Kuyt opened the scoring and Albert Riera volleyed home the pick of the goals as Villa's Champions League hopes suffered another crushing setback. [LNB]Villa were far from outplayed in the early stages, but simply could not live with Liverpool's pace and invention in attack, with Riera particularly impressive. [LNB]It was the Spaniard's goal which effectively ended Villa's chances. Pepe Reina's 80-yard clearance was allowed to bounce once on the edge of the area by a Villa defence preoccupied with Fernando Torres. [LNB]Riera took full advantage by smashing the dropping ball high into the net to double Liverpool's lead. It could have been three when Arbeloa intercepted a bad Friedel clearance inside the Villa box, but chose to pass to Torres rather than shooting himself. [LNB]But the third was not long coming. After 39 minutes Riera controlled a searching cross-field pass from Kuyt, and was brought down in the box by Nigel Reo-Coker. Gerrard smashed home the spot-kick. [LNB]He was similarly accurate when converting the fourth after the break, and completed his treble in front of the kop after Friedel brought down Torres. [LNB][LNB]
