adminLiverpool equalised shortly after the restart when Jordan Henderson dinked the ball past the reach of Brad Guzan.
And Steven Gerrard scored the winner from the spot after Nathan Baker brought down Luis Suarez in the area. The second Liverpool goal came with 30 minutes left to play which gave the home side plenty of time to get something from the match.
However, after Austrian Andreas Weimann blasted his shot horribly high over the bar and Gerrard cleared Benteke’s header off the line, it seemed the omens were not on Villa’s side.
Boss Lambert now needs to reinvigorate his squad, who came into the match on the back of two successive league wins.
This defeat leaves them on 30 points, below 17th-placed Wigan on goal difference following the Latics’ win against Norwich on Saturday.
Villa travel to Stoke next week before facing Manchester United and fellow strugglers Sunderland in what will be a crucial month in the future of the club.
It could have been a very different result for the Birmingham outfit had they not been so profligate in front on goal in the opening quarter of the match.
Jordan Henderson scored his third league goal of the season
Almost straight from the kick-off Joe Bennett, in for the injured Ciaran Clark, delivered a sumptuous ball from the left that both Benteke and Agbonlahor failed to connect with from six yards out.
Moments later, Matthew Lowton swung in a cross from the other wing which this time found Agbonlahor, who wasted a golden chance by firing straight at Reina.
They eventually took the lead when Ashley Westwood played a quarter-back pass into the path of Agbonlahor, who used his thigh to lay the ball into the path of Benteke. The Belgian, one of Villa’s key performers this season, gave Pepe Reina no chance with his finish.
However, the half could have finished 3-3. Liverpool playmaker Suarez had two great chances – a shot that was tipped over by Brad Guzan and three that were easily saved when he was one-on-one with the Villa goalkeeper.
The United States international also came to the rescue when he punched a Gerrard drive clear that was destined for the top corner.
But he was helpless to stop the equaliser which came two minutes after the break.
This time Gerrard found Philippe Coutinho with a long punt downfield.— BBC Sport.
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