Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool: Matip & Mane net to secure win, Fabinho off injured

Douglas Luiz gave Aston Villa the lead, but Joel Matip and Sadio Mane netted one each to lead Liverpool to a narrow 2-1 comeback victory away at the Villa Park on Tuesday.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

1' KICK-OFF! Who can win this match?

2' GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Liverpool (Douglas Luiz)

5' GOAL! Aston Villa 1-1 Liverpool (Matip)

19' Mane's header wide out

23' Ings' header over the bar

28' Fabinho subbed off with injury

31' OFFSIDE! Mane's goal disallowed

42' Curtis Jones' shot saved by Martinez

45' AGAIN! Curtis Jones' shot over the bar

47' Alexander-Arnold's free kick wide out

56' Alexander-Arnold's free kick wide out

64' GOAL! Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool (Mane)

82' Naby Keita's long shot wide out

84' OFFSIDE! Ings' goal disallowed

Match Report

Liverpool keep title bid alive with comeback victory at Aston Villa

The game got off to frenetic start, as Aston Villa broke the deadlock just three minutes in through Douglas Luiz, who took advantage of some poor defending from Liverpool to beat his compatriot, Alisson.

But Liverpool reacted instantly and managed to level the scores in the sixth minute, when Matip pounced on the rebound after Emiliano Martinez's save on Virgil Van Dijk to equalise.

Mane's header went just wide before Danny Ings failed to hit the target and Naby Keita missed his kick despite being unmarked inside the box following a Trent Alexander-Arnold pass.

Liverpool struggled to break down a solid Villa defence after the break, but Mane managed to find a solution 65 minutes in. Diaz produced a fine cross from the left flank and the Senegalese forward headed home to turn the game around for Liverpool.

Mohamed Salah came off the bench to replace the Colombia international and Liverpool pushed for a third, but they lacked a final pass despite looking dangerous in attack.

Ings came close to netting an equaliser for Villa, but Alisson pulled off a great save to deny the former Liverpool forward with six minutes to go.

The Villa striker managed to beat Alisson and find the back of the net one minute later, but his goal was overruled for offside.

Liverpool are now level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, but Pep Guardiola's side have one game in hand. Aston Villa are sitting 11th, nine points above the relegation zone with three games to go.

Line-ups

Aston Villa XI: Coutinho, E. Martinez, Digne, Ings, McGinn, Mings, Nakamba, O. Watkins, Ngoyo, M. Cash, Douglas Luiz

Subs: Young, Traore, R. Olsen, Chambers, Sanson, Buendia, Ben Chrisene, C. Chukwuemeka, Tim Iroegbunam

Liverpool XI: Matip, Alisson, Van Dijk, Mane, Fabinho, Naby Keita, Tsimikas, Jota, Alexander-Arnold, L. Díaz, Curtis Jones

Subs: Milner, Henderson, Thiago, Firmino, Salah, Origi, Joe Gomez, Kelleher, Konate