Duran, Duran late show earns Villa dramatic draw with Liverpool
Aston Villa's Jhon Duran celebrates scoring his side's third goal against Liverpool. Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.
Aston Villa will have to wait until the final day to confirm a Champions League spot – but a rapturous Villa Park was treated to a top-four send-off as it felt like they confirmed their place among the elite.
Some 40,000 claret and blue flags were waved by Villa supporters from all four sides to greet their team, who railed through unlikely hero Jhon Duran with two late goals to put this pulsating game on a knife edge.
But after coming back from 3-1 down late on, Unai Emery’s side fell short of the three points needed to mathematically finish ahead of Tottenham Hotspur in the race for the final place. That left it advantage Spurs for their clash against champions Manchester City tomorrow night.
Actor Tom Hanks was an interested spectator at Villa Park but before their dramatic late comeback his team were left chasing the final elite spot looking like his famous character in Forrest Gump.
Liverpool took the lead with just 70 seconds on the clock with a rare howler from Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
The Argentina international – voted FIFA’s number one after the last World Cup – allowed Harvey Elliott’s deflected cross off Pau Torres to squirm from his grasp with two hands on the ball and drop over the line for an own goal.
Such has been his commanding form over the last two seasons that the whole ground seemed stunned into silence, quickly followed by cheers from the Liverpool fans then chants of “Emi Martinez – the world’s number 1” from Villa supporters.
Leon Bailey wasted Villa’s first chance when he sliced wide after Moussa Diaby accelerated into the box and crossed from the right.
But in a thrilling match made even better by the driving rain, the hosts were right back in the game in the 12th minute.
Ollie Watkins beat Jarell Quansah on Villa’s left and cut the ball back for Youri Tielemans to find the bottom corner of the net with an arrow-like shot from 15 yards.
Cody Gakpo restored Liverpool’s lead in the 23rd minute, but only after an annoyingly lengthy delay for VAR to confirm Joe Gomez – who provided the assist – was onside following another ‘toenail’ decision.
Gomez crossed and Gakpo tapped home when Martinez palmed the ball into his path.
Villa then turned up the heat and Diego Carlos somehow completely missed an goal from Bailey’s cross, with Watkins waiting behind him.
Unai Emery’s side should have equalised two minutes before half-time.
John McGinn won the ball back and threaded Moussa Diaby through the middle but the Frenchman could only blaze over with Alisson Becker to beat.
Then Diaby frustrated the home support when his attempted backheel failed to come off after McGinn released him and he attempted to find Bailey.
Liverpool gave themselves the best possible start to the second half when they made it 3-1 in the 48th minute.
Quansah more than atoned for any error in Villa’s goal by rising highest to guide a perfect header beyond Martinez and into the net off the far upright from Harvey Elliott’s deep, curling free kick to the far post.
Villa and Watkins were then correctly denied by VAR when the latter turned home Bailey’s cross.
VAR intervened again – though it was far closer than it looked, and at the other end – as Luis Diaz escaped Villa’s high line to latch onto a through ball to square for Mo Salah to slot home.
Villa looked the more likely scorers but Diaby slammed a shot into the sidenetting from an acute angle, then from his cross, substitute Nicolo Zaniolo’s sidefooted effort was palmed away by Becker.
In a rare second-half attack, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s blistering half volley was spectacularly tipped over by Martinez, who looked to have recovered from his early costly blunder.
Substitute Jhon Duran’s fine low finish ensured a grandstand finale when he punished poor dallying on the ball by Elliott, who was tackled by fellow replacement Calum Chambers in the 85th minute.
Then Villa Park erupted when Diaby’s cross hit Duran on the run and looped past a helpless Becker for the equaliser in the 88th minute.
Martinez 5; Konsa 6, Carlos 7, Pau 7, Digne 5; Luiz 6 (Chambers, 79 minutes, 6); Bailey 7, Tielemans (Zaniolo 65 minutes, 6, Duran, 79 minutes, 7), McGinn © 7; Diaby 7; Watkins 7.
Substitutes: Olsen, Lenglet, Kesler-Hayden, Iroegbunam, Munroe, Kelleyman.
Becker 7; Alexander-Arnold 6, Quansah 8, Van Dijk 6, Gomez 7; Endo 6 (Szoboszlai 75 minutes, 6), Elliott 6 (Gravenberch 75 minutes, 6),, Mac Allister 6, Gakpo 7 (Nunez 75 minutes, 6), Luis Diaz 7 (Jones 75 minutes, 6), Salah 7.
Substitutes: Kelleher, Konate, Tsimikas, Bajcetic, Bradley.
Simon Hooper 7.
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