Continuing the series
where I look back at my five favourite wins the Liverpool’s next
opponents. This was written before Liverpool travelled
to Villa Park to meet Aston Villa and here are my five favourite wins from past
encounters.
18th December
1982
ASTON VILLA (2) 2 (Shaw 34, Withe 35)
LIVERPOOL (3) 4 (Hodgson
5, Dalglish 9,
Kennedy 27, Rush 88)
ASTON VILLA: Rimmer, Jones, Evans, McNaught, Williams; Bremner,
Mortimer, Cowans, Walters; Shaw, Withe
LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Neal, Lawrenson, Hansen, Kennedy; Lee, Souness, Whelan; Rush, Hodgson, Dalglish
When Liverpool arrived at
Villa Park in December 1982 they were defending League Champions having taken
the title off Villa. But Villa were the
European Champions. Villa’s defence of
their league title had been poor the previous season but this time they were
competing again, lying 5th in the table with Liverpool leading
again, 5pts ahead of Manchester United.
On a ridiculously frosty
surface both sets of players struggled to keep their footing, which spoilt the
game although some players tried to con the referee into believing they’d
simply mistimed their challenges when in reality they were kicking each
other. Early on Dalglish got into one
such battle with Peter Withe which lead to a free-kick about 25 yards out. Sammy Lee took the kick and Jimmy Rimmer
spilled the save and David Hodgson was on hand first to put the ball into the
net and give the visitors the lead after just 5 minutes. Four minutes later Rush forced a save from
Rimmer which lead to a corner. Kenny
Dalglish took it and swung it in right-footed from the left wing and it missed
everyone and bounced past Rimmer for a goal.
27 minutes in and Ian Rush was brought down by Allan Evans and Liverpool
again had a free-kick on the edge of the ‘D’.
This time Alan Kennedy ran over the ball and Graeme Souness fired his
shot into the wall. The ball bounced off
the wall and straight into Kennedy’s path and he beat Rimmer to put the
visitors 3-0 up.
But Villa hit back within
7 minutes to score 2 goals in a minute.
Villa had a free-kick wide on their left around the halfway line and as
the ball was floated into the area, Withe made it difficult for Hansen to clear
and his header fell for Bremner to hit on the half-volley. His shot hit Whelan and the ball bounced
kindly for Gary Shaw to equalise from close range. Almost immediately Villa came forward again
and Dalglish was adjudged to have fouled Mark Walters on the left wing. Cowans took the free-kick and Peter Withe got
up first to head past Grobbelaar.
In the second half
Liverpool put Villa under all sorts of pressure but towards the end the home
side sensed their chance and it took some fine saves from Grobbelaar to keep
Liverpool in front. Then 2 minutes from
time they managed to put the game beyond Villa’s reach. Winning the ball in midfield, Mark Lawrenson
played a long ball forward where David Hodgson held it up on the edge of the
area. He played it square to Dalglish
who then played a lovely ball for Rush to run onto and he converted from 12
yards for a 4-2 win.
Liverpool went onto
retain their League title and also the League Cup too in Bob Paisley’s final
year as manager.
20th January
1984
ASTON VILLA (1) 1 (Mortimer
15)
LIVERPOOL (1) 3 (Rush 46, 70, 80)
ASTON VILLA: Spink; Williams, Evans, Bremner, Evans, Gibson; Curbishley, Mortimer, McMahon; Shaw, Withe,
Rideout
LIVERPOOL: Grobbelaar; Neal, Lawrenson, Hansen, Kennedy; Nicol,
Lee, Johnston, Souness; Robinson, Rush
By the time Liverpool
visited Villa Park in the following season BBC and ITV had taken the plunge for
live football. On a cold Friday night in
January BBC cameras turned up to watch league leaders Liverpool take on Aston
Villa in 8th. Liverpool had
won the previous two titles and were now managed by Joe Fagan, who would go
onto win three trophies by the end of his first season in charge. Villa were an ageing team as they tried to
hang onto their European Cup winning side, and had lost just once at home all
season. They were given a first half
lead from skipper Dennis Mortimer but then it became the Ian Rush show.
Immediately after the
break Lawrenson cleared a ball downfield for Ian Rush to run onto and his pace
took him beyond Williams. He controlled
the ball and then as Spink came out, coolly placed it into the corner of the
net. Rush was in dominant form that
season and this was his 25th goal already. 70 minutes in and Souness picked up the ball
on the right wing, crossed it for Nicol to flick it on and there was Rush at
the far post. As the ball fell to him
the Welshman struck it first time on the volley to put Liverpool in front. With 10 minutes remaining Nicol headed the
ball forward just over Allan Evans and Rush was in again. He controlled the ball on his thigh and then
chipped it over Spink for a brilliant hat-trick, leaving commentator John
Motson to utter the immortal line of “the man just can’t be stopped”. That brought his tally to 27 in a season
where he’d eventually score an incredible 47 times. Liverpool won the league for the third time
running, the League Cup for the 4th time running and picked up their
4th European Cup.
21st November
1998
ASTON VILLA (0) 2 (Dublin 47, 63)
LIVERPOOL (2) 4 (Ince 2, Fowler 7, 58, 66)
ASTON VILLA: Oakes; Watson (Charles), Ehiogu, Southgate, Wright
(Joachim); Draper (Thompson), Barry, Hendrie; Collymore, Dublin, Merson
LIVERPOOL: James; Heggem, Babb, Staunton, Harkness
(Bjornebye); Redknapp, Carragher, Ince,
Berger (McAteer); Owen (Riedle), Fowler
For a change, Villa were
top of the table when the two met in November 1998. They lead Man United by 3pts with Liverpool
back in 11th. Villa were
unbeaten for the 12 games of the season so far, dropping just 2pts at
home. This game was famous for some
boorish behaviour from former Liverpool striker, Stan Collymore. Collymore had been involved in a bust-up with
Steve Harkness 9 months earlier when Stan accused Steve of uttering a racial
slur. The two had threatened to sue each
other and Collymore had also threatened to break Steve’s leg next time they
came up against each other. It took only
12 minutes for Collymore to try and carry out that threat which resulted in
Harkness being stretchered off. By then
Liverpool had exploded into a 2-goal lead.
Paul Ince had taken advantage of some indecision in the home defence to give
the visitors a 2nd minute lead.
Five minutes later Redknapp’s cross from the right was glanced in by
Fowler as he got in between the two Villa centre-backs. Both teams had chances to score again before
half-time but it wasn’t until 2 minutes into the second half when Villa got a
goal back as Dublin volleyed past James.
Ten minutes later Liverpool had restored their 2-goal lead as Heggem was
in space in midfield and then found Fowler who drilled a precise shot for his 2nd
of the game.
Villa fought back as
Merson played a great pass to allow Collymore to cross for Dublin to finish
from close range. But Liverpool came at them again almost
immediately as Redknapp was again involved and his pinpoint cross was steered
in by Fowler to complete another hat-trick against Villa. Collymore was then sent-off for a ridiculous
lash out at Michael Owen’s head, and Villa’s misery was complete. Villa ended the season in 6th just
1pt ahead of Liverpool.
13th January
2001
ASTON VILLA (0) 0
LIVERPOOL (2) 3 (Murphy 24, 53, Gerrard 32)
ASTON VILLA: James; Samuel (Hitzlsperger), Southgate, Staunton,
Wright;Alpay (Vassell), Barry, Stone; Merson, Dublin, Ginola (McGrath)
LIVERPOOL: Westerveld; Babbel, Hyypia, Henchoz, Carragher; Smicer
(McAllister), Gerrard, Hamann, Murphy; Litmanen (Biscan), Heskey (Owen)
2000-01 was a famous season
for Liverpool. They won a unique treble
of three cup competitions. When they
turned up at Villa Park they had just been beaten by Championship side, Crystal
Palace in the 1st leg of the League Cup Semi-Final. That game saw the debut of one of the best
players I’ve seen wear a Liverpool shirt, Jari Litmanen. Manager, Gerard Houllier had bought the
Finnish legend from Barcelona to the club he supported as a boy. Litmanen was such an LFC fan that when he
left Ajax for Barcelona he said goodbye by having “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
played as he left the pitch for the final time.
Villa Park would witness
Litmanen’s first full game for his new club and few who were there, would
forget it. Litmanen was just a class
apart, with slick passing, movement and positioning which seemed so effortless
and simple. Some called it a masterclass
and Liverpool had reason to believe he could provide the necessary quality to
threaten Manchester United, who were 11pts clear at the top of the table. Certainly, Gerrard, Murphy and Smicer
benefited from the industry he provided and he was involved in everything. Midway through the first half Alpay failed to
clear properly and Danny Murphy was on hand to score after his initial shot hit
the post. After that, Liverpool ran the
game. Their 2nd goal came
just 8 minutes after the first and was created by Litmanen who evidenced his
ability to thread a ball through the eye of the needle when he found Murphy on
the break. He found Gerrard who shot
first time into the roof of the net.
Within 10 minutes of the second half Murphy had doubled his tally and
given Liverpool the gap they required and killed off any hopes the home side
may have of getting anything from the game.
Litmanen was substituted
after 70 minutes but had entertained the 40,000 crowd enough to be remembered
for years. Villa were a mess with much
in-fighting of which some of it spilled onto the pitch as Alpay and David James
came to blows after the 1st goal.
Liverpool were up to 4th and Villa had dropped to 13th. Liverpool went onto win the League Cup the FA
Cup and then the UEFA Cup to cap a remarkable season.
18th December
2002
ASTON VILLA (1) 3 (Vassell
pen 23, Hitzlsperger 72,
Henchoz og 88)
LIVERPOOL (1) 4 (Murphy 27, 90, Baros 54, Gerrard 67)
ASTON VILLA: Enckleman; de la Cruz (Angel), Mellberg, Samuel,
Barry; Hitzlsperger, Leonhardsen, Hendrie (Kinsella); Dublin, Vassell, Hadji
LIVERPOOL: Kirkland; Babbel (Carragher), Hyypia, Henchoz, Traore;
Gerrard, Diao, Murphy, Riise; Owen (Heskey), Baros
This series focuses
solely on League games but this particular match was a classic and so had to be
included. It was a Worthington Cup tie at
the Quarter-Final stage. Liverpool had
knocked out Southampton and then Ipswich, on penalties, to get there, whereas
Villa had put out Luton, Oxford and Preston.
Liverpool entered the competition a round later due to Champions League
commitments, but had suffered the disappointment of going out at the group
stage. In the league they were in the
middle of their worst run in living memory, having lost their last 4 and unable
to find a win in their previous 6 matches.
Villa had been beaten on the opening day of the season when Liverpool
visited Villa Park and were sitting in 15th in the league but had
hopes of a decent cup run.
The first goal came on 23
minutes after a slick passing move from Villa saw Lee Hendrie brought down in
the area by a clumsy challenge from Traore.
Darius Vassell stepped up and sent Kirkland the wrong way for 1-0 to the
home side. Four minutes later former
Red, Oyvind Leonhardsen tripped Milan Baros on the edge of the ‘D’ and Danny
Murphy scored a trademark free-kick which Liverpool fans came to expect from
him. 1-1 at the break, and within 10
minutes of the re-start Liverpool were ahead for the first time. A first time pass from inside his own half
from Gerrard found Riise in an advanced position. He played it to his right where Baros hit a
low shot to the keeper’s right and into the net. 2-1 to Liverpool. At the halfway stage of the second period,
Liverpool came forward again and Baros was involved, again running at the
defence. When the challenge came in
Baros seemed to go down easily and no penalty was given but the ball ran on and
Gerrard, who’d run from deep, was on hand to score. It was no more than he deserved as he’d been
involved in nearly everything Liverpool did and now they were 3-1 up. But this Liverpool side had the propensity to
shoot themselves in the foot and their confidence, at this stage of the season,
was certainly lacking. Five minutes
later Hitzlsperger seemed to hit a speculative shot from 30 yards out and it
went through the defence and passed Kirkland. 2-3.
Then with just 2 minutes
remaining Vassell chipped the ball forward for Dublin and Stephane Henchoz got
to the ball first but turned it into his own net for a dramatic equaliser. But just as the crowd were getting ready for
extra time and penalties, Liverpool went back down the other end of the pitch
and some fine work on the right wing from Gerrard saw him twist inside and out
to beat Samuel before playing the ball into the area. It was half-stopped by Kinsella and there was
Murphy on hand to fire it into the net and Liverpool had pinched the game in
injury time.
4-3 and a fantastic
finish saw Liverpool go through to meet Sheffield United in the
Semi-Finals. They beat them over 2 legs
and then beat Manchester United in the Final at Cardiff to lift the League Cup
for a record 7th time.
HEAD TO HEAD at Villa Park
Matches: 90
Liverpool win: 31
Aston Villa win: 38
Draws: 21
Liverpool goals: 119
Aston Villa goals: 160
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