Torres feat breathes life into Liverpool

Fernando Torres struck three minutes into added time to earn Liverpool FC a 1-0 win at Aston Villa FC, the Spanish international becoming the fastest player ever to 50 league goals for the Anfield club.

There was little by way of goalmouth incident at Villa Park with both sides struggling to find fluency in the heavy snowfall and a single strike always appeared destined to settle the contest. The dramatic nature of the winning goal was uncharacteristic of a game low on excitement but in keeping with the scrappy affair as Torres, in his 72nd Premier League match, pounced on a fortunate ricochet before sweeping his finish across Brad Friedel.

The only chance of the opening 45 minutes had fallen to an unmarked Stewart Downing when he met a corner with a stinging volley but Pepe Reina instinctively pushed the effort wide. The home side then spurned two precious opportunities midway through the second half, Gabriel Agbonlahor driving at Reina with John Carew glancing a header wide from the resulting corner. Torres then made the hosts pay to leave Martin O'Neill's outfit sixth, one place and two points ahead of their opponents.

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