Mohamed Salah scores, Liverpool beat Aston Villa 1-0 at Anfield

The penalty kick goal scored by Mohamed Salah became the difference between Liverpool and Aston Villa when the Reds won 1-0 in the Premier League's 16th week match at Anfield Stadium, Saturday (12/12/2021).

The prize was obtained by Liverpool after appearing so dominant from the start of the match but having difficulty finding gaps in the Villa defense that appeared so disciplined for most of the match.

Salah picked up Jordan Henderson's cross and slid into the box under tight control from Tyrone Mings before the Villa captain fell behind and was forced to bring Salah down from behind.

Facing the mind-game agitation of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, Salah calmly unleashed a powerful execution beyond the reach of the Argentine to break the deadlock in the 67th minute.

Prior to the penalty, Salah came close to opening Liverpool's lead one minute before the break but his shot was saved by Martinez at the near post.

Martinez also made another save when he parried Virgil van Dijk's sharp header in the 53rd minute.

Villa, now managed by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, tried to put pressure on the hosts in the last ten minutes of the game but were always broken in the final third.

Four minutes from time goalkeeper Alisson Becker made a slight blunder when his clearance hit Danny Ings and created chaos in front of Liverpool's goal but luckily his team-mates managed to contain the danger.

In the third minute of injury time, Diogo Jota should have been able to lock Liverpool's victory early if only he was able to finish Salah's ball which ended up deviating from the target.

Jota does not need to regret his failure because the 1-0 score for Liverpool lasted until the whistle signaling the game was over.

This victory makes Liverpool now collect 37 points in second position and again closely stuck to Manchester City, who also won in the early game, only one point away.

Meanwhile, Villa, who lost their second in five games with Gerrard, dropped to 12th with 19 points, according to the Premier League's official website.

Liverpool will return to play at home to Newcastle United next Thursday, two days after Villa travel to Carrow Road to face Norwich City and have a small reunion with Gerrard's predecessor Dean Smith.