Analysis: Aston Villa's progress clear despite the pain of last-gasp Liverpool defeat

For much of it, Villa Park looked set to witness, perhaps, its most extraordinary story yet in a year not exactly short on them.

Make no mistake, had Dean Smith’s men held on to beat the reigning European champions and current Premier League leaders, it would have represented not only the finest result of the head coach’s reign to date, but arguably the best of the decade for a club who, for most of it, have been characterised by stagnation and decline and only very recently revival.

Ultimately, it was not to be. Having held on superbly to the 21st-minute lead given them by Trezeguet, Villa’s defences were eventually breached just three minutes from the end of the 90 when Sadio Mane crossed superbly for Andy Robertson to power home a far post header.

Seven minutes later, with little more than 60 seconds remaining in stoppages, Mane stooped to flick Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner inside the far post to spark wild celebrations among the travelling support and ensure Liverpool march on at the top of the table.

For Villa, who have made rather a habit of letting leads slip late against the top flight’s big guns, it looked like a case of the same old story.

There was enough in this performance though, to suggest that narrative can soon be changed.

True, on a base level Saturday could be painted as a familiar tale of Villa paying a big price for small lapses in concentration.

The otherwise excellent Anwar El Ghazi lost Robertson in the build-up to Liverpool’s equaliser, while Mane managed to get ahead of Conor Hourihane and beat Jonathan Kodjia to head the winner.

Those were the sixth and seventh goals Villa have conceded in the final 10 minutes of matches this season, at a cost of 10 points. Such a trend is concerning and will obviously need addressing if they are to climb from the lowly position they currently hold in the standings.

On the other hand, three of the four opponents against whom those goals were conceded were Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool.

There surely cannot have been too many promoted teams in recent years who have classed holding onto leads against the so-called “big six” as being among their larger problems.

Saturday was also an occasion, more than any other this season, when the opposition needs taking into account.

Liverpool don’t even draw Premier League matches these days, let alone lose them. This late show extended the unbeaten league run for Jurgen Klopp’s team to 28 matches, while they have dropped just two of the last 60 points available.

It is a remarkable run, rarely seen before in the history of the game, which began on March 10 with a 4-2 home win over Burnley. That was the same day, incidentally, Jack Grealish inspired Villa to a Second City derby victory at Blues which saw them climb out of the bottom half of the Championship.

Highlighting the great strides made by the club since then should not distract from the steps which still need to be taken if they are to become firmly re-established in the Premier League, let alone a force.

It feels more than fair to do so, however, when they have come closer than any other English club to taking down Liverpool in the last 10 months.

Of course, Villa have problems to fix, but a team essentially assembled in the space of 10 weeks last summer already looks far more sure-footed than the one which began the season. For all they are getting wrong, they are getting a lot more right.

Saturday’s performance, let’s not forget, was also delivered without Grealish, the man who along with John McGinn remains Villa’s heartbeat.

Grealish’s absence meant the home side’s starting XI featured 10 of their 13 summer arrivals (including Frederic Guilbert), with McGinn the only player to have been at the club in a permanent capacity last term.

All teams evolve over the course of a campaign, yet none is being required to quite so rapidly as Villa’s.

On an afternoon which saw several fine individual displays for the hosts, two in particular stood out. The first came from Trezeguet, who beat the offside trap to meet McGinn’s free-kick at the far post and volley home his first Villa goal.

It was a strike which capped the Egypt international’s most assured outing so far in claret and blue. In previous outings, he had looked a player trying too hard to make an impression, but this was a much more composed performance which suggested he is finally getting to grips with the demands and the pace of the Premier League.

Marvelous Nakamba, by contrast, has looked at home from the moment he made his debut in September’s 0-0 draw with West Ham. Even so, this might have also been his best showing so far. At one stage late in the second half, with Villa still holding on to their advantage, Nakamba won the ball back three times in the space of about 30 seconds.

He also delivered a fine pass over the top of Liverpool’s defence to begin a counter-attack which ended with Virgil van Dijk nipping in to clear Hourihane’s pass from in front of the waiting Wesley, six yards out.

It proved a crucial moment, though the applause which later rained down from the stands as the home players sank to their knees at the final whistle spoke volumes.

Villa might be falling frustratingly short of the big results, yet they are doing enough to fuel belief they can claim them in the not too distant future. For the moment, that is enough.