Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson hailed a fine team performance after a side missing Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard beat Aston Villa 3-0.
The hosts raced into a two-goal lead through David Ngog and Ryan Babel in the first 16 minutes before Maxi Rodriguez added the third 10 minutes after the interval.
Torres was given leave to be with his wife Olalla, who was giving birth to their second child, but the star striker was not missed.
"It was important to get a result on the back of last week's performance (a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham)," said Hodgson.
