• Date: Sat 11 August 2007
  • Venue: Villa Park
  • Ref: Riley, M
  • Attendance: 42,640
Aston Villa

Aston Villa

Barry (85) P

1 - 2
Liverpool

Liverpool

Gerrard (87)

Aston Villa vs Liverpool

Team Lineups

Aston Villa

Stuart Taylor
Martin Laursen (Gary Cahill, 46)
Olof Mellberg
Wilfred Bouma (Luke Moore, 71)
Gareth Barry
Craig Gardner
Nigel Reo-Coker
Stiliyan Petrov
John Carew
Ashley Young, A
Gabriel Agbonlahor

Liverpool

Jose Manuel Reina
Alvaro Arbeloa
Steve Finnan
Daniel Agger
Jamie Carragher
Steven Gerrard
John Arne Riise
Xabi Alonso
Jermaine Pennant (Ryan Babel, 74)
Dirk Kuyt (Mohamed Sissoko, 90)
Fernando Torres (Andriy Voronin, 79)


Live Text Commentary
Full time
 

The whistle goes and Liverpool steal the points from Villa after they grabbed what they thought was a late equaliser, but in the end, it wasn't enough.

90

Reina pushes over a John Carew header from close range.

90

There will be four minutes of stoppage time!

90
Substitution
 

Kuyt goes off as Mohamed Sissoko comes on to replace him

88
Yellow Card
 

Petrov is booked for dissent

87
Goal
 

Gerrard scores directly from a free-kick and Liverpool steal their lead right back from the hands of Villa.

85
Goal
 

Barry slots home from 12 yards out, and with only 5 minutes left, Villa draw level.

84
Yellow Card
 

Reina is booked for wasting time before the penalty can be taken.

84

carragher is penalised for a handball in the box, and Villa have a penalty!

83

Carew has a chance for Villa, but his header goes wide, and Villa certainly aren't out of the game yet.

81

Taylor makes yet another good save, this time from Babel, who struck the ball from the edge of the box.

78
Substitution
 

Andriy Voronin comes on to replace Torres, who has had a good debut.

77

Carragher has been commanding at the back for Liverpool today, and is showing England fans what they are missing.

75

Liverpool go on a rapid counter-attack and the ball ends up to substitute Babel who puts the ball wide.

73
Substitution
 

Ryan Babel comes on to replace Jermaine Pennant

71
Substitution
 

Luke Moore comes on to replace Wilfred Bouma

68

Taylor makes another great save as he tips a Gerrard shot round the post.

66
Yellow Card
 

Barry is booked for diving after Alonso goes for the challenge.

64

Kuyt has a shot on goal, but it goes just over, and the game is certainly becomming more open.

62

Gerrard looked like he was about to make it 2-0, but Gardner shows great bravery by getting in the way of the shot.

60

The crowd are still showing their anger at referee Mike Riley over his decision on Pennant.

58

Pennant is very lucky though not to sent off. As he got up from the challenge, he pushed Bouma in the chest, and the liverpool man is lucky to still be on the pitch.

58
Yellow Card
 

Wilfred Bouma is booked for a foul on Jermaine Pennant

55
Yellow Card
 

Jermaine Pennant is booked for a foul on Ashley Young

53

Kuyt has a good effort on goal, but the ball hits the side netting.

52

Villa dont seem to have sorted themselves out during the break as a couple of players are still arguing tatics with O'Neill.

50

Mellberg and Cahill collide with each other which means that Villa lose possession, but Liverpool fail to create anything from it.

47

Riise clears well from Young and Villa receieve a corner, but they fail to make an impact from that resulting corner.

45
Substitution
 

Martin Laursen is replaced by Gary Cahill

Second half
 

The second half gets underway and Villa will be looking to improve on their first half performance while Liverpool will be looking for more of the same.

Half time
 

The referee blows his whistle after a single minute of stoppage time, and after dominating for the last 20 minutes or so, Liverpool deserve their single goal lead going into the break.

44

Good defending by Finnan and Carragher, as they stop the advances of Petrov and Agbonlahor.

43

Only a couple of minutes till half time and Liverpool will be happy with this performance if the score stays like this at the break.

41

Petrov has a great chance on goal, but he should have done better with his shot, which he hits straight at Reina.

38

Liverpool will certainly be content with the way they've dominated Villa so far, and will be looking to keep it tight at the back till the break.

35

Martin O'Neill will be wondering why his side dont seem to be competing with Liverpool in this half and his side, at this rate, will be in for an interesting half-time team talk.

32

That goal reflects at least the last ten minutes of play, and the away fans will certainly say that the goal was deserved.

30
Goal
 

Martin Laursen puts the ball into his own net after Taylor had pulled off a great save from Torres.

28

Liverpool are beginning to take a hold of this game, and Torres has a shot on goal...but its goes well wide.

25
Yellow Card
 

Mellberg is cautioned for a bad foul on Torres.

24

Gardner seems to handball it, but it takes the referee to blow up for it rather than the linesman, who was only yards away.

21

Bar the odd chance, this game hasn't really got going yet, and both sets of fans will be hoping for a quick improvment.

18

Gerrard has a dangerous shot on goal, but Taylor does well to save it, and Gerrard reminding us all of what he can do.

16

Villa fans think they are awarded a penalty but Mike Riley is infact signalling for a free-kick to Liverpool in their own box after a Villa free-kick.

15

Both teams seem unable to string a collection of passes together, and will both need to get their act together.

13

Both sides seem a bit on edge, but this is probably due to the prehaps slight lack of fitness for all players due to it being the opening day.

10

Carragher gets in a great challenge on John Carew and Villa get a corner, which is cleared by Finnan.

7

Gabriel Agbonlahor almost sneakes in behind the Liverpool defence, but the through ball from Gardner is just too long for him.

5

Gardner has a long range effort but Reina palms the ball away in what has been a fairly slow-tempo game so far.

2

Mike Riley is the referee in a sun-baked Villa Park, and there is certainly more expectation on Liverpool than there is on Villa at this point of the season.

Kickoff
 

The game begins and all away fans will be looking at how their new Spanish striker Torres performs against a solid Villa side.

Awaiting Kickoff
 

Liverpool have no major injury worries as new striker Torres starts upfront as Liverpool start with: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Riise, Pennant, Gerrard, Alonso, Arbeloa, Torres, Kuyt

Awaiting Kickoff
 

Taylor starts in goal for the injured Sorenson and new signing Reo-Coker starts as Villa kick-off with:Taylor, Gardner, Mellberg, Laursen, Bouma, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Barry, Agbonlahor, Carew, Young