Nicolas Anelka was upstaged on his Liverpool debut by referee Andy D'Urso before a late goal from Vladimir Smicer got the Reds' Premiership title push back on track at the expense of unfortunate Aston Villa.

Anelka played only a bit part after coming on as a 68th-minute substitute - which was more than could be said for D'Urso after his unintentional step onto centre stage.

In the eighth minute the Billericay official was running back to the half-way line when a clearance from Villa 'keeper Peter Schmeichel struck him on the back.

The ball rebounded to Jari Litmanen who rolled the ball into an empty net to set the Reds on their way to three points.

It would be fair to say that D'Urso would not be high on Gregory's Christmas card list.

Two years ago the Villa chief received a touchline ban after a verbal blast at D'Urso when he was fourth official in a Premiership encounter at Leicester.

Now came this unintentional kick in the teeth which handed Litmanen a belated Christmas present which he gratefully accepted.

It helped Liverpool to put their recent mini slump behind them and put their push for a Premiership title push back on track after collecting only one point from the previous three games.

There were many twists and turns after D'Urso's antics with Litmanen missing a penalty and Lee Hendrie equalising before Smicer came up trumps for the Reds.

It was rough justice on Villa who deserved at least a share of the spoils but the statistics show they have collected only six points out of the last 27.

Man of the match was Liverpool's Patrik Berger who was a constant threat to Villa operating behind the unusually subdued Michael Owen and Litmanen.

But Villa had enough opportunities to have won the game themselves with Juan Pablo Angel impressing before Smicer settled the issue.

Liverpool dominated the early stages but they needed that unintentional helping hand from D'Urso to open the scoring after eight minutes.

To their credit Villa quickly picked themselves up after this setback and within 12 minutes had got themselves back on level terms.

Leading scorer Angel burst into the area and Liverpool 'keeper Jerzy Dudek was unable to hold onto his fierce shot. The rebound broke to Hendrie who hammered the ball into the roof of the net from 10 yards out before taking his shirt off despite the freezing conditions and celebrating with the Villa fans along the touchline.

Villa came more into the game after their opponents' early dominance with Dudek fortunate that a first-time volley from Darius Vassell was struck straight at him.

But the Reds were handed another chance to go back in front nine minutes before the interval - only for Litmanen to this time fluff the opportunity.

A great piece of skill from Steven Gerrard took him past Alan Wright and into the Villa penalty area where he was challenged by George Boateng.

D'Urso pointed to the spot despite Boateng's protests that he had not fouled the England midfielder and up stepped Litmanen.

But, although sending Schmeichel the wrong way, his shot hit the right hand post and rebounded back into play before Steve Staunton completed the clearance.

Villa manager John Gregory's temper was boiling over and he was spoken to by D'Urso after berating one of his assistants.

Hendrie limped out of the action two minutes into the second half and his replacement Ian Taylor set up a good opportunity for Hassan Kachloul.

The Moroccan was in space inside the penalty area and had time to steady himself but he lofted his shot weakly over the bar.

It was now all Villa and they should have taken the lead after 61 minutes. Taylor surged into the area to meet a cross from Vassell but sent his effort against the post. The ball rebounded to Paul Merson who seemed certain to score but from three yards out his shot hit the head of John Arne Riise and rebounded to safety.

Dudek then reacted quickly to turn a low dipping effort from Vassell around the post.

But then Smicer delivered the sucker punch with 17 minutes remaining. Berger floated the ball over the Villa defence into his path and he coolly slotted his shot past Schmeichel.

Teams:

Aston Villa: Schmeichel, Samuel (Stone 81), Mellberg, Staunton, Wright, Boateng, Merson, Hendrie (Taylor 47), Kachloul, Angel, Vassell.

Subs Not Used: Dublin, Enckelman, Barry.

Booked: Boateng.

Goals: Hendrie 21.

Liverpool: Dudek, Carragher, Hyypia, Henchoz, Riise, Smicer (McAllister 86), Hamann, Gerrard (Murphy 77), Berger, Litmanen (Anelka 68), Owen.

Subs Not Used: Kirkland, Wright.

Goals: Litmanen 9, Smicer 73.

Att: 42,602

Ref: A D'Urso (Billericay).