Salah scores twice but Liverpool suffer embarrassing 7-2 defeat by Aston Villa

Reuters , Ahram Online , Sunday 4 Oct 2020

Egypt's Mohamed Salah scores twice to take his tally to five Premier League goals but title holders Liverpool handed a nightmare after losing 7-2 to Aston Villa in the Premier League

Salah
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah gestures after Aston Villa's Ross Barkley scores his side's fifth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Liverpool at the Villa Park stadium in Birmingham, England, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020. AP

A double from Mohamed Salah was not enough for Liverpool as Aston Villa hammered them 7-2 for a stunning Premier League victory over their illustrious opponent on Sunday.

A sensational first-half hat-trick from Ollie Watkins helped Aston Villa end the champions’ 100% start to the season in extraordinary fashion.

Liverpool started badly at Villa Park as a poor pass from Adrian -- deputising for Alisson in goal for the visitors after the Brazilian picked up a shoulder injury -- gifted Watkins the opener in the fourth minute.

If there was an element of good fortunate about Watkins’ first goal in a Villa shirt, his second was all his own fine work as he cut inside before firing into the top corner to stun the champions and make it 2-0 in the 22nd minute.

Mohamed Salah’s fine left-foot finish seemed to get Liverpool back in the game in the 33rd minute, but John McGinn’s deflected strike two minutes later restored Villa’s two-goal advantage.

Watkins completed his hat-trick inside 39 minutes, with former Everton midfielder Ross Barkley -- making his debut after joining Villa on loan -- making it five, 10 minutes into the second half.

Salah did give Liverpool hope on the hour mark, before a late double from Grealish completed a remarkable victory for the team who just avoided relegation last season.

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