Trent Alexander-Arnold rescues point for Liverpool in thriller at Aston Villa

Arne Slot may find it tough to decipher and digest a draw that ultimately tightens Liverpool’s grip at the top. Given how close the Aston Villa substitute Donyell Malen came to snatching a 95th-minute winner, though, perhaps it will be easy enough. Trent Alexander-Arnold rattled in a second-half equaliser to maintain Liverpool’s unbeaten away run in the Premier League but a point was frustrating given the substitute Darwin Núñez earlier missed a glaring chance to earn victory.

How much encouragement will this result give Arsenal, eight points behind the leaders with a game in hand? Diogo Jota also missed a brilliant first-half chance for Liverpool, who seized the lead through Mohamed Salah before goals by Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins put Villa – for whom Marcus Rashford made his first start since joining on loan from Manchester United – in front at the interval.

This evolved into a captivating, seesawing contest once Villa recovered from an early wave of Liverpool attacks. Virgil van Dijk walloped a shot over the bar after collecting Alexander-Arnold’s improvised outside-of-the boot pass and the next minute Tyrone Mings made a couple of important interventions, first to block Diogo Jota’s shot and then Andy Robertson’s cross. Unai Emery gesticulated furiously on the touchline, demanding his players raise their level.

And so they did. Few would have had Rashford and Marco Asensio doubling up on Ryan Gravenberch in Villa shirts in mid-February on their bingo card. Then Rashford flew down the left flank, played a one-two with Asensio, also making his first Villa start, and Rashford’s low cross cannoned off a Liverpool defender into the back of Alisson’s net. Then came the check from the video assistant referee, replays showing Rashford strayed offside before collecting Asensio’s return. It was a decision in keeping with the rest of the game until that point: a procession of nearly-moments. Emiliano Martínez made a fine save to thwart Dominik Szoboszlai after Curtis Jones twirled away from Villa challenges, Lucas Digne superbly stopped Salah in his tracks.

Emery warned Villa would be punished for dropping off for a second and a lapse of concentration gifted Liverpool the lead. Andrés García, the right-back Villa signed from Levante last month, played a blind backward pass straight to Jota, lurking outside the 18-yard box, and the Liverpool forward took a pace or two before squaring for Salah to convert his cross from close range. It was surely the easiest of Salah’s 29 goals in all competitions this season. García grimaced, Van Dijk did a double fist-pump. Slot was busy receiving high-fives on the Liverpool bench.

It was a goal that seemed to galvanise Villa. Suddenly the supporters dialled up the volume. Villa responded on the pitch. John McGinn kept a Rashford free-kick alive at the back post after Ibrahima Konaté headed clear and then Mings bopped the ball on again. Szoboszlai’s clearance dropped straight to Tielemans, who volleyed in.

Liverpool should have immediately regained the lead but Jota, played in on goal by Robertson with only Martínez to beat, shanked a shot painfully wide. If Jota was not kicking himself then, he surely was when Liverpool headed down the tunnel trailing at the interval. Watkins kickstarted the move himself before spreading play and drifting into the box unmarked to spook Van Dijk and head in a Digne cross in first-half stoppage time, sparking bedlam in the North Stand.

This was Rashford’s first league start since December and while he faded, his direct running caused problems. Alisson came rushing exuberantly out of goal early in the second half but inadvertently presented Rashford with a chance to curl the ball into an empty net, an effort lacking conviction but which required Konaté to clear. Jota went close on the hour, clipping the top of the crossbar from the edge of the Villa box but Liverpool levelled a minute later. Alexander-Arnold advanced into some space on halfway and after collecting the ball from Salah his thrashed shot flew into the bottom corner via Mings, McGinn throwing himself to ground in vain. Then Liverpool went for the jugular.

Sign up to Football Daily. Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football. after newsletter promotion. Robertson saw a shot deflected wide at the back post after magnificent, intricate footwork by Salah in the box and Jota sent a header wide from a superb whipped Robertson cross. Then came a rare moment of respite, a double Liverpool substitution before Emery made a triple change, with Rashford among those withdrawn. Slot sent on Conor Bradley and Darwin Núñez and the pair almost made an instant impact. Bradley slipped a through ball into Szoboszlai, who trickled the ball to his left for Núñez to finish, only for the Uruguay striker to sky his effort. Axel Disasi, the unheralded Chelsea loanee who enjoyed an excellent game at centre-back, perhaps put him off but Núñez should have scored. On the touchline a stunned Slot hurriedly asked if Núñez was offside, presumably to make himself feel better. It was another huge wasted chance to file away with the rest of them.