Liverpool 0-1 Aston Villa: Gab spoils Mario’s big day

Aston Villa continue to be Brendan Rodgers’ bogey side, as they once again found a way to confound Liverpool at Anfield.

After a win and a draw in their last two visits, Paul Lambert’s men scored early and then produced a defensive masterclass to claim a deserved three points.

This morning, it is they, and not Liverpool, who sit second in the Premier League behind Chelsea, as the home team badly fluffed their lines.

The focus was all on Mario Balotelli as he made his first appearance at home, but the Italian failed to provide the spark his team needed.

Daniel Sturridge was badly missed after picking up an injury while on international duty for which manager Brendan Rodgers has still not forgiven England but the bigger surprise was the decision to name man of the moment Raheem Sterling on the bench.

It meant Liverpool started a game without him or Luis Suarez, a summer departure to Barcelona, for the first time since December 2012.

As a result, Liverpool were a shadow of the side who swept teams away last season.

Rodgers started with six of his summer signings, brought in to balance the demands of challenging in the league and the Champions League.

But their return to Europe’s premier competition against Ludogorets on Tuesday was marred by this disappointing loss.

Despite the home side’s new look, a flowing move should have produced a goal with barely five minutes gone.

Play was spread wide to full-back Javier Manquillo marauding forward and his cross was met by Lazar Markovic, who headed wide but had Balotelli unmarked behind him.

That miss was costly as Villa took the lead. Ashley Westwood’s corner picked out Philippe Senderos, whose header hit Manquillo.

But Gabby Agbonlahor reacted faster than any defender to scramble the loose ball home. And it should have been two moments later from another Westwood dead-ball.

Again his delivery was excellent to find Senderos, but the Swiss defender headed over when he should have scored.

Senderos was in the thick of the action and he sent Balotelli sprawling to the floor with a kick off the ball.

Luckily for him, referee Lee Mason did not see the incident.

However, the home side looked so vulnerable when asked to defend set-pieces, and they survived two more close shaves.

At the other end, Lallana went close with a low 20-yard strike, while Balotelli finally came to life as his shot deflected off Weimann and dropped just beyond the far post.

Liverpool’s best chance came in stoppage time at the end of the half when Alberto Moreno broke through.

The Spanish left-back could have shot but chose to look for Markovic for a tap-in, only for Nathan Baker to make a heroic block tackle.

They enjoyed lots of possession after the restart but couldn’t penetrate Villa’s rearguard, so on the hour mark, Sterling was sent on to increase their attacking threat against opponents who knew their jobs perfectly.

The tempo increased immediately and the teenager’s first involvement saw him on the end of a stiff challenge from Alan Hutton.

But despite being camped in Villa’s half, they were struggling to prise open the visitors.

But Philippe Coutinho was unlucky not to equalise when he struck the inside of the post with Brad Guzan motionless.

Yet, that was as close as they came as Villa deservedly held out to maintain their impressive start to the season. Their fans left chanting ‘We’re going to win the league’ after a third win in four matches put them second in the table and the irony won’t be lost on the Liverpool fans who sang that chant for much of last season.