Aston Villa 0 - 6 LiverpoolLiverpool put six past sorry Aston Villa as home fans turn ire on Lerner
Away team scorers
Daniel Sturridge 16
James Milner 25
Emre Can 58
Divock Origi 63
Nathaniel Clyne 65
Kolo Toure 71
Kolo Touré of Liverpool celebrates with after scoring the sixth goal at Villa Park.
Liverpool performed to a backdrop of fans walking out en masse for a second weekend in succession though it was not inflated ticket prices that sparked the exodus this time but the sheer ineptitude of Aston Villa. No easy games in the Premier League? Nonsense. This was a surrender and Liverpool inflicted a St Valentine’s Day massacre from which the division’s bottom club may not recover.
A team supposedly fighting for its life rolled over and died at Villa Park. To add insult to injury, the Villa defender and fan Joleon Lescott tweeted a photo of a top-of-the-range Mercedes S63 shortly after the final whistle (below right), later claiming he had done so by accident as “it happened whilst driving and my phone was in my pocket”. The sense it left, however, is that he is detached and uninterested, just like Villa’s defending.
Those fans not sent to the exits in despair turned their ire on the owner Randy Lerner in the directors’ box rather than Rémi Garde in the dugout. The French coach looked on helplessly as the nightmare of Villa’s heaviest home defeat since Ted Drake scored all seven of Arsenal’s goals in a 7-1 win here in 1935 unfolded. On the flip side, Liverpool equalled their biggest winning margin away from home in the top flight but Jürgen Klopp had too much respect for his opponents’ suffering to revel in the rout. He could take greater satisfaction from Liverpool demonstrating that, with Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho available, they do have armoury to punish weak defending.
Sturridge opened the scoring on his first Premier League start under Klopp, James Milner, Emre Can, Divock Origi, Nathaniel Clyne and Kolo Touré all followed. Six different goalscorers and a multitude of faults for Garde to correct. No spine, no spirit and no quality. There is no way back for Villa on this evidence. Garde admitted: “As a manager that is probably the worst performance I have had. It is a very bad afternoon, a very bad defeat but we don’t have time to complain and moan. We have to be professional until the end. I will find 11 players for the next game who want to fight.” He was hard pressed to find one .
The defensive flaws that are ushering a grand club towards the Championship were quickly exposed, and under minimal pressure, as Liverpool established a comfortable lead without truly exerting themselves. The lack of leadership after Sturridge and Milner scored must have worried Garde as much as the feeble resistance that met two punishing crosses from the Liverpool left.
Sturridge started the humiliation with a finish made simple by his intelligent movement. Liverpool worked the ball out to Coutinho on the left and when his in-swinging centre dropped between the static Lescott and Aly Cissokho the unmarked striker steered a header inside Mark Bunn’s near post. Lescott berated Cissokho for losing the run of Sturridge. Abdicating responsibility was a feature of the Villa performance.
The visitors’ second came gift-wrapped nine minutes later. The cumbersome Jores Okore dispossessed Coutinho before conceding a needless free-kick with a slight push on the Brazilian. Milner swept in the set piece from a similar position to Coutinho’s cross for the opener, Lescott, Okore and Mamadou Sakho leapt to meet it, all three missed and the ball sailed beyond Bunn into the far corner. Villa’s play deteriorated rapidly thereafter with a procession of half-hearted challenges and basic errors enraging the home support. Garde’s team were abysmal. Once Gabriel Agbonlahor departed early in the second half, taking any semblance of attacking intent with him, they threw shambolic into the mix for good measure. Garde claimed Agbonlahor was suffering from vertigo. “Don’t you have to be high up to have that?” came a biting retort in the press conference.
Four Liverpool goals in 13 minutes provided an accurate gauge of the calamity that unfolded. Number three arrived courtesy of the pedestrian Micah Richards. The Villa captain was easily dispossessed by Can, who continued his run as the impressive Roberto Firmino drove towards the defence before squaring for the German midfielder who found the bottom corner from 20 yards.
Number four arrived from Origi’s first touch after replacing Sturridge. Once again Villa lost possession, this time to Firmino deep inside the Liverpool half. Coutinho swept a glorious pass around Okore where the Belgium international raced forwards before beating Bunn.
Two minutes later came number five, Clyne breaking clear of Jordan Veretout inside the area and converting his first league goal for Liverpool at the second attempt. Number six was appalling from a Villa perspective and a moment of sheer joy for Touré. The Liverpool central defender was stood still and unmarked as Jordan Henderson swept a corner over from the right. Touré did not have to move to convert his first goal in five years.
Klopp said: “Having six goalscorers – I can’t remember them all now – is perfect for the boys because it is important that they all really feel it is important to work in this way, but it is not a day to sing songs for us.
“You have to show respect for Aston Villa, a great club in a difficult situation. We came here and won the game, that’s important for us, but if someone wins 6-0 someone loses 6-0 and that is not nice. It is a good day for us but a hard day for Aston Villa.”
Man of the match Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
Guardian
