Watkins leads Villa's 7-2 rout of Liverpool
A exceptional first-half hat-trick from Ollie Watkins helped Aston Villa to a gorgeous 7-2 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday to end the champions' 100% commence to the growing season in extraordinary fashion.
Villa narrowly avoided relegation last season and finished 64 points behind Liverpool, who conceded seven goals in a match in any competition for the first time since 1963.
"It's hard to lose the way we lost tonight. First and foremost done well to Aston Villa, we must give them the credit they deserve. It was one of those performances where we weren't 100% at it from start to finish," Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports.
"Overall, we are all disappointed, we shouldn't have lost with the numbers that people did but it's about sticking together and making sure it generally does not happen again."
Liverpool began badly at Villa Park as an unhealthy pass from Adrian -- deputising for Alisson in goal for the visitors following the Brazilian found a shoulder injury -- gifted Watkins his the opener in the fourth minute.
A full-strength Liverpool defence was carved open again occasions later, with former Everton midfielder Ross Barkley -- making his debut after joining Villa on loan -- gifted another chance, but he dragged his effort wide.
If there is an element of fortune about Watkins's first goal in a Villa shirt, his second was all his own fine work, as he cut inside before firing in to 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 a perfect hat-trick inside 39 minutes with his head, becoming the first player to score a Premier League treble against Liverpool in over ten years, and Barkley made it five 10 minutes into the second half.
Salah did give Liverpool hope on the hour mark, but a late double from Jack Grealish completed the scoring.
"I think when the first one went in I pinched myself somewhat because of how early it had been," Watkins said. "I'm delighted to contribute and that we won by the end of the day. It's unbelievable to score and get yourself a hat-trick."
Villa rained in 18 shots on the Liverpool goal and could have added more before the final whistle because they climbed to second in the standings after a third successive win. Liverpool are fifth.
