Reds brush Villa aside

Gerard Houllier touched the "This Is Anfield" sign before kick-off and was accorded a warm reception but this was a chastening trip back to his old home, his spirit dropping with the temperatures, writes Henry Winter.

His Aston Villa side were easily brushed aside by Liverpool, who rose to eighth in the Premier League with goals from David Ngog, Ryan Babel and Maxi Rodríguez. The gulf in class and belief between Liverpool and Villa should really alarm the visitors.

To the delight of freezing Liverpool fans, good performances could be found all over the chilled pitch. Raul Meireles and Lucas dovetailed well in the centre, utterly dominating Villa's midfielders. Ngog and Babel were lively upfront, taking their goals well and also tracking back to help on the rare occasions when required.

At right-back, Glen Johnson executed his few defensive duties well and attacked menacingly on occasions.

To celebrate being the quickest Liverpool keeper to reach 100 league clean sheets, Pepe Reina sang a Gipsy Kings number in the dressing room afterwards. Spanish Stroll by Mink DeVille might have been more appropriate. The Madrileno was troubled only once, making a sharp save from Gabby Agbonlahor.

Agbonlahor ran hard but was isolated. Stephen Ireland, deployed in the hold, gave him precious little support. The only visitors to emerge with any credit were Villa's terrific fans, who responded to the supine offering of their players with a series of songs like "let's pretend we've scored a goal", "it's just like watching Brazil" and "we're going to win the League", all of which possibilities looked highly unlikely. When Villa pieced together a rare passing move, their supporters greeted every touch with wild chants of "olé".

Already missing Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, Liverpool were also without Fernando Torres, whose wife was heavily pregnant, yet the strikers certainly delivered, Ngog and Babel both finding the mark within 15 minutes.

Babel, relishing his chance to show his abilities through the middle, was drafted in alongside Ngog as Roy Hodgson continued with a 4-4-2 system. Dirk Kuyt kept breaking inside from the right, supporting the front line and even going close with an early volley.

On the coldest of evenings, with the temperature plummeting from a kick-off minus four degrees, Kuyt then pressured Villa's defence into conceding a corner and Liverpool took full advantage from a classic set-piece ploy.

Meireles lifted the ball over, Martin Skrtel nodded back and there was the diving Ngog, flying through the air, to head the ball past Brad Friedel, another Anfield alumni making a painful return to this famous footballing theatre.

One quickly became two. Liverpool were lively enough, brimming with energy and movement, but Villa were so poor, so hesitant. Lucas was working well alongside Meireles, two men against the boys of Villa.

When Ciaran Clark lost the ball, Lucas lifted the ball down the inside-right channel for Babel to chase. The Dutchman was just offside but the flag stayed down.

Villa screamed for offside, pausing fatefully. Babel eluded Stephen Warnock, another visitor enduring an awkward journey down memory lane.

Babel still had much to do. As the ball bounced up, Babel thumped it superbly from right to left past Friedel.

Two goals to the good, Liverpool then seemed to pause for breath, allowing Villa to dream of an improbable comeback. Given some time in possession, Houllier's players began pushing on. Marc Albrighton and Stewart Downing, who switched flanks on occasion, started running at Paul Konchesky and Johnson, who held firm.

Such was the excellence of one Johnson interception that Reina, captain for the evening, ran from his line to salute a right-back not always noted for his defensive work.

Villa's youngsters toiled hard. Agbonlahor led the line but got little change from Skrtel or Sotirios Kyrgiakos. One Skrtel challenge on Agbonlahor was a masterpiece of timing, the defender nipping in to nick the ball. When Agbonlahor targeted an incoming aerial ball, Skrtel again was master of the situation.

Frustration began to seep into Villa's movements, seen nastily with a lunge by Clark on Lucas, bringing a fifth caution of the season and a one-game ban for the young midfielder.

Villa were losing the ball as well as their composure; Liverpool kept being gifted possession and it was a surprise the scoreboard showed only 2-0 to Liverpool at the half-time interval.

A third duly arrived. Reina was the catalyst, launching the ball through the midfield, totally catching Villa out. As the Kop stood in anticipation over the blur of movement hurtling towards them, Maxi and Ngog executed a superb one-two. As Ngog raced down the left, Maxi kept charging through the middle.

The Frenchman's cutback was perfection, judged expertly for the Argentine, who opened up his body and side-footed the ball at pace past poor Friedel. There will surely be a run on Maxi's Liverpool red snood in the Anfield club shop on Tuesday.

Liverpool were so in control that Hodgson could have declared.

Houllier sought to influence events at a ground he knows so well, sending on Robert Pires and John Carew. As rescue teams go, it was hardly on the youthful, mobile side. Houllier has plenty of work to do with Villa.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.