Aston Villa drew
a blank for the sixth league game on the bounce to increase the pressure on manager Paul Lambert.
The defeat by Liverpool
means the Villans haven't scored a goal in the Premier League in almost nine hours.
One good piece of news for beleaguered Lambert was that an online protest which called for fans to boycott their seats before the game, only drew support from a few hundred.
Fabio Borini and
Rickie Lambert grabbed the goals which continued the Reds
eight game winning streak and helped Brendan Rogers' side up to seventh in the table.
Italian Borini netted with 24 minutes on the clock after he
poked in a Jordan Henderson right wing cross from close range. Raheem Sterling, fresh from his Caribbean break, should have doubled their lead when he was played through
one on one with Villa ‘keeper Brad Guzan but his attempt at a clever chip over the American
provided mere catching practice. Alberto Moreno had a goal ruled out for
offside.
Villa’s new signing Carles Gil came on in the second half to
replace Tom Cleverly which was greeted with sarcastic applause and noisy boos by the home
fans. The little Spaniard offered Villa something new and linked up well to
create an opportunity with Andreas Weimann but couldn’t convert the return pass
on the right hand side of the penalty area.
In a 10 minute second half spell, Villa finally threatened an equaliser. Christian Benteke smashed a half volley towards the near
post from the right hand side of the penalty spot but it was beaten away well
by his fellow countryman Simon Mignolet in the Liverpool goal. Nathan Baker headed over from a corner and then completely miscued from five yards out.
Any hopes of a home point disappeared with 79 minutes on the
clock. Substitute Rickie Lambert controlled a through pass from Sterling on the edge of the penalty
area and fired home in the far corner to put the game beyond doubt.
After the match Paul Lambert was upbeat about his team’s
performance despite going down 2-0. “I thought the second half we were
excellent. Their goalkeeper (Mignolet) had a great second half. Another day we could have had one or two goals."
When asked for his views on the lack of goals, Lambert added: "I would be more worried if we weren't creating chances. They will come. We just have to stick together ."
Reds boss Brendan Rogers said he was delighted with the way his young and developing team had played. "We defended very well and should have had a few more goals," he said. " We are playing some wonderful football which is pleasing but we have to keep on improving."
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