From the Old to The New In the Space of a Couple of Hours

The game though started with Liverpool kicking off and they showed their intent from the word go. They began to attack immediately and were soon running rings around the Aston Villa players, who for all intents and purposes were looking rather lost. Dirk Kuyt was the first Liverpool player to have a go at the goal but unfortunately missed. Liverpool though was linking up well and the signs began to appear that a goal fest could possibly happen. Ngog was having some good balls passed to him and it took a while before he was able to convert one and make the score 1-0

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This seemed to wake Aston Villa up and Pepe, who was chasing his record of keeping 100 clean sheets, saved several shots to keep Liverpool in the lead. Ryan Babel who had a point to prove, was having a great game and after a wonderful run hit the ball home with a wonderful shot, Liverpool were now 2-0 up and Anfield although extremely cold was alive. The sound from the Kop was an indication that things were going Liverpool's way. The half continued with Liverpool in total control and Roy Hodgson , who normally appears motionless was on the touchline shouting his head off , which of course was a joy to see, for the simple reason that is what managers should do.

The second half got underway and I don't know what Gerard said to his players at half time but I suppose for about fifteen minutes it appeared that they could get back into the game. During that period, it looked as though they were going to cause problems and I sat wondering if Liverpool were going to be ineffective in the second half as they do have a habit of taking their foot of the pedal at that point. My fears though were quickly cast aside as Maxi, who is proving now that he has what the premiership takes, picked up a wonderful ball and Liverpool were 3-0 nil up.

At this point the camera pointed to the stands and showed both Stevie G and Alonso, who was over for a visit. Of course this set the rumour mill working immediately and by this morning people were saying that perhaps Alonso was in his way back to the club - I personally don't believe this will happen, but we are in the magic month of December so you just never know.

The game though still had to be won and the team did not let us down, they carried on and it was just shame that no more balls found the back of the net before Roy made his substitutions - Aurelio for Maxi, Cole for Kuyt and Kelly for Kyriakos. They though had very little time to make a major impact on the game and it finished with the kop singing Gerard's name and Liverpool winning with a score of 3-0.

Normally this would have been the end, but news was beginning to filter through that there was a new member of the Anfield family. Torres and his wife Olalla had been blessed with a son, whose name I believe is Leo, a brother for their eldest daughter.
As people will tell you, it was the perfect end to a perfect evening. A new baby, Pepe's 100th clean sheet, a good win and a sign that the Liverpool recovery was now in full swing - what more could a Liverpool supporter want?