AFTER THE complimentary pre-match comments, there was a cursory handshake and then the gloves were off. Not one of the 42,000 supporters crammed into Villa Park was going to be fooled into believing Martin O’Neill and Rafael Benitez have become best friends. Gareth Barry, the man at the centre of their furious row 18 months ago, has disappeared from the scene but with a place in the top four at stake last night’s fixture threatened to reignite their rivalry.
The freezing weather conditions ensured there would be no thaw in relations between the two on an evening when Benitez was left to rue the referee, Lee Probert’s, failure to point to the penalty spot in the first half while O’Neill reflected on the wonderful save Pepe Reina had earlier produced to thwart Stewart Downing. Otherwise, this was an occasion that promised much and delivered little until deep into stoppage time.
Enter Fernando Torres, the ball breaking to the Spaniard in the Villa penalty area in the 93rd minute and, with the angle narrowing, he drilled beyond Brad Friedel to bring Liverpool three points and create a little history. The striker has become the fastest player to score 50 league goals for Liverpool, reaching the landmark in 72 appearances and, in doing so, supplanting Roger Hunt.
Not too many managers have got under O’Neill’s skin during his three-and-a-half-year reign at Villa Park but Benitez succeeded last year when he claimed that the Northern Irishman had discussed the “idea” of Barry’s transfer a month before the season ended.
“I’m not sure he respects anything,” responded the Villa manager at the time. The spat rumbled on, with O’Neill claiming in the summer that he had no sympathy for Benitez when Barry opted to join Manchester City.
Against that backdrop it seems inconceivable that the Villa manager will give the Spaniard any encouragement if and when he approaches him about signing Emile Heskey next month. He told Benitez “we’re not a feeder club” when the Liverpool manager first inquired about Barry.
Put Torres or Steven Gerrard in the Villa side and would there be much difference between the two teams?
There was certainly little to choose between them during an opening 45 minutes when it was as much as the players could do to remain on their feet as a snowstorm on a wet surface turned the pitch into an icing rink. Not that the conditions were any excuse for Richard Dunne’s reckless challenge on Dirk Kuyt in the 37th minute which was as stonewall a penalty as you are likely to see. Remarkably, Probert, waved play on.
The first half yielded only two genuine goalscoring chances as both sides struggled to string together any coherent attacking moves. Steven Gerrard, teed up by Torres, swept a first-time shot from just outside the area that Brad Friedel tipped over, while at the opposite end Pepe Reina showed his superb reflexes when he stuck out a right hand to brilliantly turn Downing’s stinging volley behind.
Liverpool’s suspect defending on set-pieces was exposed when Villa won at Anfield in August and the freedom Downing was given before swinging his left boot ought to have encouraged O’Neill there was further reward to be gleaned here.
Whatever the arguments about the merits of zonal and man-to-man marking it was clear that Benitez, who favours the former system, had not stationed anyone on the corner of the six-yard box at the far post.
More difficult to understand was the ease with which John Carew managed to jump inside the Liverpool area to meet James Milner’s corner, the ball glancing inches wide of the upright. That chance arrived during Villa’s best spell, which included a penalty appeal when Emiliano Insua misjudged his header and the ball struck his hand. Torres, however, ensured the night belonged to Benitez and not O’Neill.
Guardian Service
