Everton’s diminished return in front of goal is of greater concern to Sean Dyche at this juncture than their return to the relegation zone. The contrast with Aston Villa’s potency, and the options available to Unai Emery, was stark as the dominant Ollie Watkins and impactful Emi Buendía inflicted a first home defeat on the new Everton manager.
Emery had never lost four successive matches in his top flight managerial career. A combination of an incisive second-half display from Villa, ignited by their manager’s introduction of Buendía, and Everton’s predictable toothlessness ensured that blemish remained off the Spaniard’s polished CV.
Watkins excelled throughout and opened the scoring from the penalty spot, becoming the first Villa player to score in five consecutive Premier League fixtures. Buendía, after brooding on the bench, emerged to capitalise on weak Everton defending and seal victory with a fine individual strike.
“It was an amazing reaction after losing three matches before this,” said the Villa manager, who expects to be without the injured Philippe Coutinho, missing here with a hamstring problem, for the next month. “We felt good, strong and we were focused. Of course we also needed our goalkeeper to save an action sometimes and to be defensively strong but we took our moments and we were clinical.”
Dyche could not say the same. Everton improved on their previous performance against Leeds but without the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is unlikely to return against Arsenal on Wednesday, or the reinforcements that were so desperately needed in January they lacked quality to turn pressure and promise into an end product.
The recurring flaw will have fatal repercussions for the lowest scoring team in the Premier League if not remedied soon. Neal Maupay toiled in attack while Everton’s supporting cast were also found wanting when opportunity knocked.
The Everton manager said: “The details in both boxes are forever the most important thing in football. It hasn’t been right here all season, that is quite obvious. We have corrected it somewhat but we have to keep working continuously on that. I have to be careful because the key moments were the difference today and I thought a lot of our performance was right. The theme this season has been finding those big moments and we didn’t find a moment in the first half, but a lot of it was good.”
Everton wrestled control of the first half following a bright Villa start that saw Watkins denied at close range by Jordan Pickford, making the 350th appearance of his club career. Dwight McNeil carried the hosts’ threat almost single-handedly.
With the crowd fired up by the erratic match officials, the hosts’ intensity, pressing and pressure improved in tandem. Maupay headed wide of Emi Martínez’s far post from an Alex Iwobi corner. Amadou Onana did find the target with a towering header from a Vitalii Mykolenko cross but the World Cup winning goalkeeper tipped over superbly. The Argentina international then saved comfortably from Maupay after McNeil, released behind the Villa defence by Iwobi, declined to shoot with his unfavoured right foot and squared to the hesitant forward.
Tyrone Mings cleared off the line from a scrambled Maupay header early in the second half. James Tarkowski followed suit at the opposite end after Pickford flicked a Watkins header on to the inside of a post.
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Emery’s introduction of Buendía and Álex Moreno sparked an immediate improvement in Villa’s attacking play. Within three minutes of the double substitution the visitors were awarded a clear penalty when John McGinn broke into the box and was sent sprawling by Idrissa Gana Gueye. Buendía appeared to ask for penalty duties. Watkins said no, and drove the spot-kick down the middle of Pickford’s goal.
Watkins and McGinn were integral to Everton’s undoing for the second goal, combining to find Buendía in space down the left. The substitute advanced into the area and bamboozled Conor Coady with a drop of the shoulder before beating Pickford at his near post with an emphatic finish.
