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. 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.  Related ArticlesPremier League actionLatest standings and statisticsTop 10: Worst spitting incidents in footballLiverpool v Real Madrid: Raul and Reina both seek Kop inspirationRafael Benitez fears Fernando Torres burn-out as Liverpool maintain title challengePremier League team news: Sunday squads, statistics and betting guideUnited 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.  

Source: Telegraph