Liverpool vs Aston Villa LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction today
Follow all the action as Steven Gerrard returns to Anfield
There was no happy homecoming for Steven Gerrard, no “celebrating like a crazy devil,” no narratives feeding into future ambitions. The man he termed “100 per cent the best player in the world now” saw to that, firing in a low, hard penalty to further Liverpool’s title fight.
Mohamed Salah’s direct goal contribution ticked over to 14 consecutive league games, his 67th-minute winner deflating an Aston Villa side that departed without a shot on target.
The task was not to make it easy for Liverpool, but Gerrard’s men didn’t figure it would be this hard to conjure threat of their own.
The scoreline belied a story of enterprise versus total obstruction, with substitute Diogo Jota missing a glorious chance late on to make that more clear.
Norwich 0 - 0 Man Utd
45 mins: Just the one minutes of added time to play at the end of the first half and Man Utd have a corner. Fernandes knocks it short to Telles who swings a cross into the box that Sargent heads away.
Sancho sends it quickly back into the box and Maguire wins the header this time directing it towards goal and forcing Krul to tip it over the crossbar!
Norwich 0 - 0 Man Utd
44 mins: Fred gives the ball away to Sargent who curls a long forward pass in behind Lindelof for Pukki to chase down. He’s racing Maguire to the loose ball but the United defender gets there first and boots it away.
Aarons then goes on a driving run from his own box and carries the ball into midfield. He shifts away from an attempted Bruno Fernandes tackle and goes past Fred before McTominay stops him with a cynically heavy tackle.
Norwich 0 - 0 Man Utd
41 mins: Close! Norwich break United down with a pass into the box from the right. Rupp makes a decent run in from the wing and collects the ball before taking it around Lindelof. Pukki is open but Rupp can’t pick him out and Dalot manages to work the ball back out of the penalty area.
Norwich 0 - 0 Man Utd
39 mins: Save! Finally a good chance for Manchester United. They’ve been building up to one for the last 10 minutes or so. McTominay threads a through ball into the right side of the box for Ronaldo. He decides against a first time shot and pulls it back onto his left foot before firing a shot at goal. Tim Krul sees is all the way and makes a solid two-handed save to parry the ball away.
Norwich 0 - 0 Man Utd
36 mins: Almost! McTominay recovers the ball in his own half and sends it out to Telles on the left side. He fires a pass down the line and Ronaldo collects before driving towards the box. Rashford provides an overlapping option and gets the ball before taking it into the penalty area. He shimmies away from Aarons but can’t beat Lukas Rupp who wins the ball and clears the danger.
Norwich 0 - 0 Man Utd
33 mins: It’s better from United but still not threatening. Fernandes collects the ball on the left side and curls a cross into the box with the outside of his right foot. Ronaldo and Sancho are waiting in the penalty area but the ball sails over their heads and bounces out of play.
Norwich 0 - 0 Man Utd
30 mins: That’s nice play. United work the ball quickly across the pitch with Fred finding Fernandes who plays in Ronaldo. He’s got options in the box as he approaches from the left but takes too long on the ball and Aarons nicks the ball off him.
Norwich 0 - 0 Man Utd
27 mins: Dalot mistakenly sends the ball out for a Norwich corner but the set piece is whipped safely into the hands of David De Gea.
Manchester United haven’t been very penetrating at all, they’ve knocked the ball sideways and backwards more often then not and seem bereft of ideas.
Norwich 0 - 0 Man Utd
24 mins: There’s not much happening in either final third with most of the action happening in the middle of the pitch. Neither side has really grabbed control of the game yet.
Rashford is slipped in behind Ozan Kabak by Bruno Fernandes but he checks his run thinking he’s been pulled back by the Norwich defender and the attack dies down.
Norwich 0 - 0 Man Utd
21 mins: Hanley’s come back onto the pitch but looks in a fair bit of pain. So much so that he’s noth going to be able to continue. He’s holding his arm very stiff as he walks off the pitch and is replaced with Jacob Sorensen.
Lindelof sends another long ball up the pitch but this one bounces safely through to Tim Krul.
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