Sadio Mane’s 50th Anfield strike and a late Curtis Jones goal edged the champions within 11 points of the Premier League century mark as relegation-threatened Aston Villa were left to rue what might have been.
Dean Smith’s side squandered what was the best chance of any visiting team in the last three years to end Liverpool’s unbeaten home run but slipped to a 2-0 defeat, which extended the sequence to 57 matches.
What transpired was a scrappy, disjointed, low-tempo display in which they did not register a shot of any kind until the 37th minute, with their only two pieces of quality producing goals for Mane and substitute Jones in the final quarter.
Villa, still a point from safety and now without a win in nine matches, had created the better opportunities up to that point but failed to take the openings offered to them.
Villa, while fairly resolute in their defending, could not have expected to have such an easy ride and out-shot their opponents three to two in the first half despite having just 28 per cent possession.
Jones, a Scouser from the club’s academy, celebrated signing a new five-year contract less than 24 hours earlier by smashing home Salah’s headed knockdown in front of the empty Kop.
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