Unai Emery was left to rue his side’s profligacy in front of goal as Aston Villa went down to a 3-0 reverse at Liverpool.
Dominik Szoboszlai put the Reds ahead after just three minutes before Matty Cash’s unfortunate own goal midway through a first half in which Villa had chances of their own but could not convert.
Cash was denied by a super save from Alisson at the start of the second period, with Mohamed Salah registering a third for the Reds just minutes later to put the game beyond reach.
But head coach Emery was quick to recognise the Premier League season is 38 matches long, and Villa will look to bounce back straightaway at home against Crystal Palace after the international break.
“It was difficult to win here but we were excited about how we could react,” he told VillaTV. “How we could face them after our good results against Everton and Burnley.
“Really, we were trying to compare with the match against Newcastle, and here Liverpool; more or less two similar teams.
“We needed to face differently than the match we played against Newcastle.
“I think (how) we played, in the first half, was the key and we played really taking chances, we weren’t clinical and we conceded some chances to them as well and they were clinical.
“In the first half it was 2-0, but more or less we could react – continuing, trying to create chances and being clinical.
“In the second half we started very well and created two very good chances to score, we didn’t do it.
“And then when they scored the third goal, really, the match was finished.
“We were thinking to change, not like in Newcastle when in the last 20 minutes we really conceded a lot then.
“And we tried today, okay, we are losing 3-0, we can accept at the end because we weren’t clinical and they were clinical.
“We tried to compete and keep being consistent in our gameplan to the last minute as well.
“Now, they are better than us, before the match we were thinking about how we can face them, trying to be closer to them. But they showed us they are better, still better than us.
“But the Premier League is 38 matches. We are going to try in our process, try to improve and try as well now to take our challenge at home against Crystal Palace in two weeks still being strong in our mind.”
