Liverpool's 100 per cent start to the season came to an end following a goalless draw at Aston Villa.
Torres injured in Villa Park stalemate
Liverpool lost their 100 per cent start to the season and missed out on the opportunity to move to the top of the Premier League following a goalless draw at Aston Villa.
The Midlands encounter produced further disappointment for Reds manager Rafa Benitez, who was already without sidelined captain Steven Gerrard, as star striker Fernando Torres sustained what appeared to be a hamstring injury in the first half.
Three points would have seen Liverpool move to the top of the table following Chelsea's draw with Tottenham, but Benitez's side never truly looked capable of finding a winner.
Villa also struggled and John Carew wasted the best chance of the opening 45 minutes as the Norwegian striker fired straight at Jose Reina from close range following good work by Ashley Young.
Both sides came out with more intent after the interval, but shots on goal remained at a premium as Robbie Keane wasted an excellent chance to open his Liverpool account with 20 minutes remaining as he made a mess of things when through on goal.
Overshadowed
The build-up to the game had been overshadowed by the appearance of Gareth Barry, a summer transfer target of Liverpool, but it was Martin Laursen who almost earned the points for Villa as he headed narrowly wide in the closing minutes.
Benitez was met with a crescendo of criticism from Villa fans when he made his way to the dug-out before shaking hands with home manager Martin O'Neill, who he angered with his pursuit of Barry.
But the game itself was mostly disappointing, with both sides cancelling each other out and for long periods adopting a safety-first approach until an exciting finale.
The first incident of note saw Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel booked after 13 minutes for hauling back Carew on the left flank.
Liverpool suffered a setback after 27 minutes when striker Torres pulled up sharply when chasing an innocuous-looking pass and was immediately taken off.
Debut
It led to Benitez giving a debut to striker David Ngog, who was signed from Paris St Germain earlier in the summer.
Then, after 35 minutes, Carew squandered the first clear-cut chance when set up by Young.
Liverpool threatened for the first time when a deep cross from Andrea Dossena was only headed by Nicky Shorey into the path of Dirk Kuyt, but he shot into the sidenetting.
Then a superb reverse pass from Keane opened up the Villa defence for Ngog and his left-footed curler was only inches too high.
The visitors stepped up their game in the second half and Keane teed up a shot for Xabi Alonso which was deflected over Brad Friedel's bar by Shorey.
Then Friedel did well to tip over, at full stretch, a superb cross on the run from Dossena.
Villa enjoyed pressure of their own and Curtis Davies made good ground to get on the end of Young's free-kick but summed up the game by heading the ball away from the Liverpool goal.
| Aston Villa |
Team Statistics |
Liverpool |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 2 |
Shots on Target |
1 |
| 5 |
Shots off Target |
7 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 5 |
Corners |
8 |
| 9 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 76.2 |
Passing Success |
79.2 |
| 19 |
Tackles |
29 |
| 78.9 |
Tackles Success |
79.3 |
| 43.7 |
Possession |
56.3 |
| 51.2 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.8 |
|
