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.
2021/2022 Premier League
1-2
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