Aston Villa Becomes A Stall For Liverpool

JAKARTA - The leader of the Premier League standings, Liverpool, needed an equalizer Trent Alexander-Arnold in the second half to secure a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa on Thursday, February 20, 2025, early morning WIB.

An additional point makes the Arsenal chance, which is in second place, getting closer and more open. Currently, the Gunners are eight points clear of the Reds, but they haven't played the 26th week of the party.

Mikel Arteta's team only played the 26th week of the party on Saturday, February 22, 2025, hosting West Ham United at the Emirates.

If Arsenal manages to win, then the distance from Liverpool is cut to five points.

Meanwhile, Liverpool almost lost at Villa Park. They opened the scoring first through Mohamed Salah's opener in the 28th minute before Aston Villa turned things around in the first half with goals from Youri Tielemans (38') and total Watkins (45+3').

Diogo Jota's shot then hit the crossbar after halftime. Luckily, Alexander-Arnold's turn was able to equalize in the 61st minute.

Substitute Darwin Nunez squandered a golden opportunity to restore Liverpool's lead. Aston Villa almost stole three points in second-half injury time with Donyell Malen's shot hitting the post.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk expressed his frustration at failing to win. However, that was not a detrimental result for Arne Slot's team who are still in control of the Premier League title race.

"We are a little disappointed, we have a chance to win the game and take a bit of a risk at the end."

"We took a point and went ahead. We will face a big match on Sunday, February 23, 2025," said Van Dijk.

Liverpool lost only once to 14 Premier League games before meeting The Villans.

They want to show that dominance is back which unfortunately has no sweet end. At the start of the match, Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was forced to make an initial save, badminton Mings carried out a crucial block, and Liverpool striker Diogo Jota's header, was still wide.

Liverpool had felt threatened when Marcus Rashford, who appeared as the first starter for Aston Villa since being loaned out of Manchester United, saw his cross deflected into the net, but he was stuck in an offside position in the goal process.

Aston Villa's carelessness proved to be detrimental because Andres Garcia panicked under pressure and passed the ball straight to Jota, who then passed Salah.

The Egyptian fired a shot at the top of the goal that Martinez could not reach.

Liverpool's advantage did not last long. In the 37th minute, Rashford curled free-kicks into a crowded area of penalties and the ball finally fell into Tielemans, who volleyed past Alisson.

Jota squandered a golden opportunity to restore Liverpool's lead by immediately, misdirecting the ball. However, Liverpool's initial energy eased and Aston Villa managed to take the lead in first-half injury time.

The lead came as Aston Villa took control of the ball through Lucas Digne who had given Watkins a cross. The England National Team striker grabbed with a header to trick Alisson.

Liverpool had slumped, but found the tempo of their game again after the break. Shortly after Jota's long-range shot hit the crossbar, they equalized.

This time Salah became the creator when he passed the ball to Alexander-Arnold whose shot hit Mings, causing Martinez to make a mistake.

Nunez came off the bench to replace Jota, but instead of being a hero, he made a mistake that made Arne Slot shake his head.

The Dutch coach did not believe it on the sidelines because Nunez's shot bounced over the crossbar while the opponent's goal was open.

"You can understand that there is one person in the dressing room who feels very, very sad. I think you know who that person is," said Slot referring to Nunez's surprise failure.