Aston Villa made it three wins from three in the Premier League after scoring seven goals against champions, Liverpool, in an astounding 7-2 victory at Villa Park on Sunday.
Ollie Watkins scored thrice while John McGinn’s added a fourth to leave Jurgen Klopp and his side, who scored through Mohamed Salah’s 100th goal in English football, stunned and 4-1 down at half-time.
Dean Smith’s inspired side put both legs on the pedal as goals from Ross Barkley and Jack Grealish further extended their lead.
Salah scored his second of the night in hope of a fightback, but it was Villa who completed the scoring through captain, Jack Grealish, who made it seven.
Watch the match highlights below
The Premier League champions’ perfect start to the season ended in remarkable fashion with Liverpool down to fifth on the standings.
Meanwhile, Villa, who have a game in hand, are up to second in the table on goal difference as we move into the international break.
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How Aston Villa humiliated the Premier League holders
Villa were in front as early as in the fourth minute and they never slowed down.
Grealish pounced upon Adrian’s poor pass and rolled it over to Ollie Watkins, who scored his first Premier League goal.
The club record-signing didn’t have to wait very long to score his second as he cut inside Joe Gomez and fired a shot past Adrian into the top corner.
Villa continued to cut Liverpool to shreds, exploiting their high defensive line. It could have been even worse but Barkley missed two glorious chances with the goal at his mercy.
Liverpool eventually managed to pull a goal back through Salah in the 33rd minute, but the expected comeback from the champions never materialised.
Villa refused to back down from taking the game to Liverpool and their efforts were rewarded when McGinn’s volley went in via a deflection off Virgil van Dijk to restore their two-goal advantage.
Watkins then made it 4-1 as he completed his hat-trick in the first half, heading home from Trezeguet’s cross to make it 4-1 at the break.
Minamino was introduced by Jurgen Klopp to get some sort of grip on the game, but they could not cope with Villa’s attacking threat.
Barkley finally got his debut goal in the 55th minute, hitting a shot from outside the box that flew off the boot of Trent Alexander-Arnold and past Adrian.
Salah grabbed his second of the game soon afterward with 30 minutes remaining, but it proved only to be a consolation as Villa restored their four-goal cushion six minutes later, with Grealish benefiting from another deflection off Fabinho to find the bottom corner.
Grealish then sealed any chance of a fightback as he grabbed his second of the night as Villa beat the Liverpool offside trap yet again.
Stats and facts from the match (Backed by Opta)
- This was the first time Liverpool conceded seven goals in a match in all competitions since April 1963 during a 7-2 league defeat at Tottenham.
- Liverpool are the first reigning English top-flight champions to ship seven goals in a league match since Arsenal against Sunderland in September 1953.
- Liverpool’s 11 goals conceded is their most after four games of a league season since 1937-38 (also 11).
- Adrian has made five errors directly leading to opposition goals in his 21 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions; as many as counterpart Alisson has in 92 such matches.
Premier League Matchday 4 results
Sunday 4th October 2020
- Leicester City 0-3 West Ham United
- Southampton 2-0 West Bromwich Albion
- Arsenal 2-1 Sheffield United
- Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 Fulham
- Manchester United 1-6 Tottenham Hotspur
- Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool
Saturday 3rd October 2020
- Chelsea 4-0 Crystal Palace
- Everton 4-2 Brighton and Hove Albion
- Leeds United 1-1 Manchester City
- Newcastle United 3-1 Burnley
Wow Liverpool! I an’t believe this. A night to NEVER remember.