With Manchester United losing 3-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and allowing them to get their second consecutive Premiership title, Liverpool still had the chance to fight for second place, but first they had to beat an Aston Villa side who needed at least one point to be absolutely safe from relegation, if other results around England didn't go their way.
Rafa called back a significant number of first team players after resting most of them earlier this week against West Ham United, probably to ensure that they would not lose their match-fitness. A win for Liverpool would put them level on points with Manchester United for second place, although the Red Devils would have a game in hand.
Today's game marked the return of Milan Baros to Anfield for the first time. Would he score against his former club?
Liverpool dominated the game from the kick-off and it took just 4 minutes for them to go ahead. A fabulous through-ball from Xabi Alonso found Fernando Morientes at the edge of the box and he took one touch to control it, another to take it past Olof Mellberg and the last to finish it beautifully into the bottom corner past Thomas Sorenson.
This is the type of class we have been expecting from Morientes and should he continue to reproduce this type of form, he'll definitely be a favourite at Liverpool for years to come.
Liverpool looked good attacking down the right where Cisse was always a threat with his speed and crossing. Aston Villa soon warmed to their game though, and Alonso and Gerrard could not utilise the pace of Cisse too often. Liverpool could not find the second goal, and they decided to sit back and defend. A mistake, as they let Aston Villa back into the game, and Milner had the opportunity to cross into the Liverpool box which only had two Liverpool defenders but three Aston Villa men. Luckily for Liverpool Gareth Barry could only head Milner's great cross into the ground and see it bounce over the bar.
Milan Baros' return was cut short when he was subsituted at half-time for Juan Pablo Angel as Aston Villa looked to try a different dimension of attack. The substitution nearly paid off straightaway as Angel charged down Reina's clearance, bouncing the ball goalwards before seeing it cleared. Reina looked shaky and nervous at times, perhaps the mid-week rest wasn't too good for him.
Liverpool responded to that minor scare and nearly doubled their lead when Cisse's persistence and pace took him to the byline where he fashioned a great cross for Crouch, who could only hit it wide 6 yards from the goal. Morientes then came close as his deflected volley was pushed away by Sorenson.
Aston Villa never gave up though, and Gareth Barry put them level in the 58th minute as everybody missed Hughes' cross except him, and he had a simple finish to make it 1-1.
Liverpool were woken up roughly after that goal, and under the leadership of Steven Gerrard, took the lead again just two minutes after the restart. Alonso took a low corner from the right which saw Gerrard, making a great diagonal run, half-volley it at the near post. Sorenson had no chance as his shot was too hot to handle.
Liverpool took the game to Aston Villa and just five minutes after his first goal, Gerrard hit an absolute cracker into the top corner of the net from 25 yards out. 3-1 to Liverpool and we were rocking.
Aston Villa looked lost after those few minutes and Liverpool tried to push for Gerrard's hat-trick. However it wasn't to be as Aston Villa finally galvanised themselves and nearly pulled it back to 3-2, but Reina made a great save to deny them.
Liverpool have pulled Manchester United back to level points, but it still remains to be seen if Ferguson's men will drop points in their last two matches. Our fingers are crossed.
Liverpool team ratings:
Jose Reina - 7
Looked a little clumsy at times, was not very reassuring. Made a great save towards the end though and that saved his rating.
Jan Kromkamp - 8
Was great in defence and attack, more potent an attacker than Riise was down the left flank. Looks to be a reliable replacement for Finnan.
Djimi Traore - 7
An average performance for Traore, did not do much supporting Riise down the left, but did well defensively.
Jamie Carragher - 9
Was very solid in defence, denied Aston Villa many chances at goal with his superb defensive abilities and tackling.
Sami Hyypia - 7
Paled in comparison to Carragher. Hyypia looked great in the first half, but faltered and made a few mistakes in the second half.
Djibril Cisse - 8
Was always a threat down the right and also down the left occasionally. His crossing is good and there was a moment when he outran two Villa defenders from way behind them to get to the ball. His is getting more persistent and can only be good for Liverpool.
John Arne Riise - 7
Did not look very effective in the left of midfield, relied on his left foot a little too often. Doesn't perform as well as he normally does when he's on the left of defence.
Steven Gerrard - 10
A fantastic two goals from the captain as he produced a man-of-the-match performance.
Xabi Alonso - 8
Protected his defence superbly and produced many threatening long balls from the centre of the park to the flanks.
Peter Crouch - 7
Did not make much impact on the game. Crouch needs to work on his heading and his shooting strength more.
Fernando Morientes - 8
Produced a performance that was worthy of his days at Real Madrid. Excellent finish to give Liverpool the lead.
Substitutes:
Robbie Fowler - 7
The man who scored 14 goals in 15 games against Aston Villa came close but put his effort just wide.
Mohamed Sissoko - 7
Came on and protected the defence well alongside Alonso.
Stephen Warnock - 7
Looked a greater threat down the left compared to Riise. Full of running and energy.
Final score: Liverpool 3-1 Aston Villa
Archangel's Man Of The Match: Steven Gerrard
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