Salah’s 250th lights the way as Liverpool halt their slide against Aston Villa
Mohamed Salah's landmark 250th Liverpool goal arrived at the perfect moment for the champions, settling a febrile Anfield and steering a 2-0 victory that ended a run of four successive Premier League defeats. He was gifted the ball by Emiliano Martínez's errant pass intended for Pau Torres in first-half stoppage time, and the 33-year-old finished calmly into an unguarded net to tilt the hosts' way.
Ryan Gravenberch, back from an ankle injury, sealed the points in the 58th minute with a 20-yard strike that deflected off Ezri Konsa and Torres to wrong-foot Martínez. Villa had rattled the woodwork twice in the opening period, and Liverpool briefly thought Hugo Ekitike had made it 1-0 before the break, only for VAR to rule his header offside. A first league clean sheet since 14 September and a first league win since 20 September lifted Liverpool to third, seven points behind leaders Arsenal, while Villa's four-match winning streak was halted as they slipped to 11th.
Anfield's show of faith steadies the champions