12/08/2007 7:08:01 AM
Steven Gerrard's superb free-kick secured a 2-1 victory for Liverpool over Aston Villa on the opening day of the Barclays Premier League campaign for the first time during the Rafael Benitez era.
Villa looked to have rescued a point when skipper Gareth Barry cancelled out Martin Laursen's first-half own goal with an 86th-minute penalty.
But then Gerrard curled a 20-yard shot past the dive of Stuart Taylor barely 60 seconds later, after he had been brought down by Stiliyan Petrov.
Overall Liverpool was a worthy winner, with record signing Fernando Torres making a satisfactory debut despite spurning a golden first half opportunity.
The signing from Atletico Madrid linked up effectively with Dirk Kuyt before being taken off with 11 minutes remaining.
But man of the match for the umpteenth time was England midfielder Gerrard who exerted so much influence over proceedings even before his goal, while Jamie Carragher excelled at the heart of the Villa defence.
If Benitez could have hand-picked a first day opponent it would surely have been Villa given it has not beaten the Reds in front of their own fans for nine years.
Villa huffed and puffed with Barry outstanding in midfield but it seldom tested Jose Reina until he turned over an injury-time John Carew header.
Villa made a bright start in front of a capacity 43,000 crowd and Reina had to be alert to deal with a stinging 30-yard volley from makeshift Villa right-back Craig Gardner.
But Liverpool gradually took command and Torres had his first half-chance after 17 minutes when he blazed over the bar from a narrow angle following a long clearance by Reina.
Taylor parried a low Gerrard drive and a superb pass from the England midfielder was seized on by Kuyt but he hesitated instead of shooting first time.
Increasing pressure from the visitors paid off in the 36th minute although it needed an own goal from Martin Laursen to break the deadlock.
Taylor did well to parry a Torres effort but Kuyt managed to cut the ball back into the danger area from the by-line and the unfortunate Laursen only succeeded in lofting the ball into the roof of the net.
O'Neill made a half-time substitution, replacing Laursen with Gary Cahill although it was not known whether it was tactical or because he had suffered a knock.
Villa tried to build up some momentum and Nigel Reo-Coker tried his luck from the edge of the Liverpool box but dragged his shot well wide.
Villa was still struggling to create any openings and it needed a brilliant block from Gardner to prevent Gerrard doubling Liverpool's lead.
Kuyt made good ground down the right and squared the ball across goal to his unmarked skipper who struck his shot cleanly enough but Gardner threw his body in the way to stop a certain goal.
Gerrard was denied again when Taylor turned aside his fierce first-time drive.
Villa looked to have rescued a point with four minutes remaining when Barry converted a penalty after Carragher had handled in the box.
But the Villa celebrations had not died down when Gerrard restored Liverpool's lead within 60 seconds.
He was brought down 20 yards out by Petrov and himself curled a superb free-kick past Taylor to cap an excellent individual performance.