Everton 0-2 Aston Villa post match thread

[LeeB]

Just watched MOTD (only the Villa bit)

Danny Murphy's usual appalling punditry was finished off with a large screenshot of Aaron Ramsey when they were discussing Jacob. Doh!

Danny Murphy was spot on last night and his analysis, like at Southampton, picked out several passages of play not seen in the highlights, which made it look like we'd been under the cosh a bit.

[paul_e]

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/12819887/everton-0-2-aston-villa-premier-league-highlights

I don’t think it was a penalty after watching this a few times. I think there was clear contact with the ball .

I agree. No penalty, for me.

I'm with Keith Hackett on this one.Pen.

The MOTD highlights showed a camera angle they didn't on Sky which clearly proved he didn't touch the ball.

Even if he had got a toe on the ball the contact with McGinn's knee was long before the nearest point he got to the ball. I can't understand why anyone thinks it wasn't a penalty, absolute banker. The penalty itself was about as good as it gets.

The one where Pickford went through Watkins is more difficult. If the ball doesn't hit Pickfords trailing leg then it's 100% given but should that be enough to dodge a foul given he knew nothing about it and he went on to completely clatter through Ollie. I reckon it's one of the "umpire's call" style decisions where whatever the ref gives the VAR will back him up.

The 'clearance' by Konsa was utterly braindead and he owes Mings big time for saving him. Their defending for Emi's goal was comedy

[ventnorVillain]

I remember some years ago at the baseball ground. From what I could see Kenny Swain rounded the keeper and scored. The ball went through the back of the net and the ref gave a goal kick. It is my imagination or was there anyone else there that day to see it ?

Yes. He went round the keeper and slotted in from a narrow angle. The ball went through the side netting which obviously hadn't been fastened down properly. Apologies if anyone else has commented on this, but I'm reading through the PM thread from the beginning and just got to this point. The match finished 0-0 IIRC. 78-79 or thereabouts.

[jwarry]

I almost feel sorry for this chap.  Reminds me of how we felt when we went down

That, my friend, is what you call a bogey team
Shamefully, that’s four defeats in a row to Aston Villa, and no wins in eight against them (six losses, two draws) since they returned to the Premier League.

Paul Traill
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EVERTON 0 - 2 ASTON VILLA

We were pretty buoyant for our second home game in a row, knowing that a win would elevate us a place at least. And despite our paucity of attack, with Aston Villa conceding 11 goals over their last three games, I fancied our chances of getting one at least in the onion bag. We certainly had the opportunities, though were undone by a lack of conversion… we all know where that fault ultimately lies, of course.

Dan did the driving this time, and it was good to have a few jars with the guys in the pub before the game. We were saying in the pub how refreshing it is to see our team unchanged for the right reasons, whereas under Frank Lampard you were scratching your head as to why he wouldn’t change the team, despite how bad it got.

This is in part due to availability, of course; this exemplified by Aston Villa’s ability to swap out Philippe Coutinho and Emi Buendia with Jacob Ramsey and Leon Bailey. Quality options we just don’t have.

It’s always nice to see a full away end at Goodison Park, and Aston Villa took their full complement, and were pretty noisy in the early stages of the game. They were spurred on by their team at this point, who made a positive start, at one point having us rather pinned back with several players unable to clear their lines effectively. In another moment, a ball over the top caught out Conor Coady way too easily, though thankfully Jordan Pickford was out quicksmart to thwart Ollie Watkins.

Once we became competitive in the game, we tilted the balance in our favour. We really had Aston Villa pushed back and created a number of positive opportunities, of which surely one should have been put away.

Dwight McNeil seeking out Neal Maupay who was free in the area really highlighted our issues. A top striker smacks that into the net first time with no hesitation. Neal, and it may be down to his eroded confidence, took a touch to set himself before striking weakly at goal. Emiliano Martinez easily saved.

The Argentina No 1 also thwarted us when Amadou Onana arrived into the penalty area and headed at goal. There were further opportunities too for Alex Iwobi and another Neal Maupay chance, though at the break, you had to be satisfied with our efforts, but the nagging doubt that not capitalising on our opportunities would come back to bite us remained.

In the second half, we kept up the tempo and couldn’t really have come much closer to scoring than when Neal Maupay bravely headed goalwards under pressure from the onrushing Martinez. Unfortunately, Tyrone Mings was on hand to clear off the goal-line. That was a real key moment in the game. If that goes in then, you’d say we probably would have had a good chance to take all 3 points.

As it turned out, it wasn’t long at all until we were clearing off the goal line ourselves when Lucas Digne got beyond Alex Iwobi and put in a good ball for Ollie Watkins. His header was superbly kept out by Jordan Pickford who dived acrobatically and palmed the ball onto the post before James Tarkowski wellied it away.

Sadly, this was a pre-curser to what happened next. James Tarkowski mis-controlled under limited pressure and overhit the ball out for a throw-in, which allowed Aston Villa to make a couple of substitutions, one of which saw Emi Buendia enter the fray. Everton switched off sadly and were punished, Buendia flicking the ball inside for John McGinn who ran into the penalty area and was brought down by Idrissa Gueye.

Or so it seemed at least. The replays show Idrissa Gueye getting a tiny nick on the ball, though this wasn’t picked up by the VAR and the penalty, and subsequently the goal, stood. In pre-VAR days I’d be wondering why Idrissa is taking such a risk in the penalty area making a challenge like that. Though now we have the VAR, I’m as bemused as I ever am with it as to why this wasn’t given a proper look.

I watched Match of the Day earlier and saw Leandro Trossard’s excellent strike for Arsenal against Leicester City chalked off for an apparent foul by Ben White when Danny Ward flapped feebly at a ball in from a corner. I’ve seen the replay time and time again and still don’t know what the foul was.

In Idrissa Gueye’s instance, it looks to me like he gets a clear foot on the ball. With my blue-tinted specs, of course, I don’t know why this wasn’t looked at.

Which brings me on to the officiating because, let's face it, Everton had no answers after the penalty. Aston Villa doubled down, and we couldn’t break them down, ultimately losing 0-2 when substitute Buendia (yes – a quality player who could come on from the bench and make a telling difference) rounded Conor Coady, who was pedestrian at best, before finishing well to seal the game.

The referee irked throughout. He’s a referee I’ve generally thought was decent quality, but he really stunk the place out yesterday. The early yellow card for Amadou Onana was as ridiculous as it was harsh and only seemed to happen once he went over to check on Douglas Luiz. Obviously we’re not privy to how much of a knock Amadou is carrying, but this could have had a massively negative effect on the game.

Following this, the referee made several inconsistent decisions throughout, many of which were very late and irksome to the crowd. I try my best not to be critical of officials as I believe they have a tough job, but this was really poor from supposedly one of the best.

And as I’ve set off on a bit of a rant, is there a team in the league as cynical as Aston Villa? We saw it earlier in the season at Villa Park, but all the rolling around and feigning injury to try to disrupt momentum really took the piss, and the weak referee failed to control it.

It’s part of the modern game and they aren’t the only ones that do it, but that left me incredibly frustrated yesterday. “We weren’t complaining when it was Richarlison” Gary said in response to one of my many vocal gripes. Touché. I can’t disagree with that!

And just to complain a bit more, shamefully, that’s four defeats in a row to Aston Villa, and no wins in eight against them (six losses, two draws) since they returned to the Premier League. I doubt there’s a single other club who has been in the league throughout that time who has failed to beat them once.

That’s pitiful and says everything about how low we have sunk. I would say though that the last three of them have all followed a rather similar pattern of Everton missing good chances, and Aston Villa making the most of the few that come their way.

That, my friend, is what you call a bogey team.

[SoccerHQ]

I don't think the Watkins one was a penalty. Watkins got his shot away, Pickford made the save (probably not with the body part he intended), striker and goalkeeper collided. Without wishing to give my age away, if they start giving fouls for those, never mind penalties, we might as well all pack it in.

Have a look at Preston-Wigan yesterday and the penalty which Daniel Johnson scored. Arsenal also got a much less clear penalty v Man. City recently when Ederson sort of collided with their player.

I thought it was a decent shout as Pickford was out of control making the save (he has previous for injuring Van Dijk in similar action) but as said none of our players apart from Ollie appealed so it's easier to just dismiss claims when that happens.

[KevinGage]

And just to complain a bit more, shamefully, that’s four defeats in a row to Aston Villa, and no wins in eight against them (six losses, two draws) since they returned to the Premier League. I doubt there’s a single other club who has been in the league throughout that time who has failed to beat them once.

That’s pitiful and says everything about how low we have sunk.

I'd say the league table and having the managerial equivalent of a dead end in their dug out says more about how low they've sunk.

Everton are God awful and dog ugly - just one of those sides you need to beat now. Questions are asked if you don't.

[jwarry]

And just to complain a bit more, shamefully, that’s four defeats in a row to Aston Villa, and no wins in eight against them (six losses, two draws) since they returned to the Premier League. I doubt there’s a single other club who has been in the league throughout that time who has failed to beat them once.

That’s pitiful and says everything about how low we have sunk.

I'd say the league table and having the managerial equivalent of a dead end in their dug out says more about how low they've sunk.

Everton are God awful and dog ugly - just one of those sides you need to beat now. Questions are asked if you don't.

He’s probably right though!

[Smithy]

I don't think anyone can really call yesterday a great performance, but it was against a team battling for their lives, in the middle of a 'new manager bounce' who've won their last two home games including beating the team at the top of the league.  This was a WAY harder fixture than you would normally expect playing someone around the bottom three.  Yes, they had more shots on goal than us (15 vs 9) - but shots on goal don't automatically win you games (we had 19 against Leicester, for example), and I still think we probably had the better of the chances across the 90 minutes.

The main positive I take from it is that it's the sort of game Aston Villa do not normally win. We played okay, with some good spells, but it wasn't "dominant" in way shape or form.  Playing "okay" and winning against a team fighting for their lives is a good habit to get into, and long may it continue!  In the games we have left, we'll play better than that and lose, unfortunately - so I'll take this results when they happen.

[darren woolley]

Great win and great away day.

[Bad English]

Great win and great away day.

This sums it up perfectly. But if we all said the same thing the threads would be like Enid Blyton describing 'high tea'.

[astonvilla82]

Great win and great away day.

son train was cancelled and they laided one on at 21.30, stopping off at Crewe and getting a coach from there back into Birmingham at 00.40

[Percy McCarthy]

Anyone know why millions of OB were waiting for the Bagot coach to get back?

[Border villan]

Anyone know why millions of OB were waiting for the Bagot coach to get back?

Overtime payments?

[paul_e]

Great win and great away day.

This sums it up perfectly. But if we all said the same thing the threads would be like Enid Blyton describing 'high tea'.

but with a lot less racism.

[eamonn]

I’m pretty sure when they were talking about McGinn and JJ the picture behind them was of Aaron Ramsey not Jacob.

You are right Paul. I am not sharp enough to notice that but my 6 year old grandson picked it up. He blurted out “ what the” and said that’s Aaron.

Your grandson is brilliant, mate.

I hope he is well over the loss of that ****** Grealish by now.

Agreed. What regular 6 year-old Villan could spot that?! Knowledgeable with a keen eye for detail, the boy will go far.