Match Report

With the collapse against Bournemouth before the international break still painfully embedded in the psyche, nothing felt more inevitable than Everton giving up another two-goal lead to lose 3-2 for a second success game this afternoon.

That sense only intensified when Dominic Calvert-Lewin spurned a gilt-edge chance to restore Everton’s two-goal cushion, but made a mess of a one-on-one chance with Emiliano Martinez. The striker would go on to rattle the crossbar with another excellent opportunity to salvage a draw while Aston Villa’s cutting edge and superior finishing carried the day for Unai Emery.

It took a world-class strike from Jhon Durán to complete a turnaround from Villa that felt almost unavoidable when Olly Watkins rose easily above Michael Keane in the 37th minute to halve Everton’s advantage. True to their new-found status as a Champions League outfit, Emery’s men looked like a team coached to be comfortable on the ball, they move it with purpose and utilise the flanks — the one ruled on the afternoon by ex-Blue Lucas Digne especially — to ruthlessly expose the visitors’ frailties at the back.

By contrast, Sean Dyche’s side often treat the ball like a hot potato, something to either be dispensed with as quickly as possible or so uncomfortable to possess that they end up giving it away too easily in dangerous areas. That was certainly true of an embarrassingly one-sided first quarter of an hour where, for all Dyche’s selection challenges in defence, Everton should have been a good deal more competitive in other areas for a team that effectively finished 12th last season.

Yet, thanks to the tenacity of Dwight McNeil and his precious ability to catch out an opposition goalkeeper with an early release on an accurate shot, the winger’s penchant for a pin-point set-piece delivery and Calvert-Lewin’s aerial prowess, Everton somehow found themselves two goals to the good for the second match in succession.

Of course, against Bournemouth, they reached that strong position with half an hour to go and still held it, against inferior opposition to Villa, with 87 minutes on the clock before collapsing in spectacularly ugly fashion. Having to either hold or improve on that position for more than an hour against a top-four side is a decidedly tall order but, in both cases, you’d expect any Premier League side to get something out of the game. Indeed, the travelling Evertonians would have gladly taken a point before kick-off; they’d have snapped your hand off for one when Watkins reduced Villa’s deficit well before half-time because, to a man and woman, they knew what was coming.

This was a game with so many narratives running through it: Everton’s failure to address the full-back positions over the summer; Calvert-Lewin doubling his tally for the campaign yet still profligate in front of goal; the poverty of the game-management from the players; and Dyche’s reactive approach that saw him belatedly turn to Jake O’Brien and a back five only once the lead had been wiped out by Watkins’s brace.

That the winner was an absolutely world-class bolt from the blue seemed to only underline the gulf in quality on the pitch between two clubs who were in similarly down-trodden circumstances when Villa hired Steven Gerrard in November 2021 and Everton opted for his England midfield team-mate Frank Lampard the following January, relative novice head coaches both. Having course-corrected from their egregious error, the Villans have, of course, only moved upwards towards riches under Emery; the Toffees, crippled by the colossal and chaotic fiscal mismanagement of the Farhad Moshiri regime, have been forced to cut their cloth over and over and the result is a squad threadbare in places, managed by a coach who has never graduated beyond the footballing equivalent of rags.

The departure from the fray after just 25 minutes of Vitalii Mykolenko, an adequate, lower-half Premier League full-back when fully fit and at the best of times, merely underlined Everton’s predicament. Ashley Young, who, along with Jack Harrison, had already been exploited by Digne a few times to that point, was switched to left-back and James Garner was preferred to 20-year-old Roman Dixon to play out of position at right-back.

His relative unfamiliarity with the role (despite having played there before for both Everton and England’s Under-21s) was brutally exposed for Villa’s first goal, as Digne took advantage of an ocean of space to clip a cross to the back post where Watkins easily out-jumped Michael Keane with Jordan Pickford typically lacking in dominance of his six-yard box.

That was the beginning of a shift in momentum after what had turned, for around 15 minutes, into an effective away Everton performance. McNeil had helped render Amadou Onana’s reunion with the Toffees since his big-money summer move somewhat painful — literally and figuratively — as he robbed him of the ball outside his box, dribbled his way to the edge of the box and beat Martinez with a low shot that crept inside the far post.

And Calvert-Lewin had underscored both the importance of his fitness and his threat from set-pieces when McNeil dropped a free-kick onto his head deep in Villa’s area and he nodded beyond the goalkeeper in the 27th minute.

You desperately wanted to believe otherwise but Villa’s recovery in the 36th and eventual triumph felt almost pre-ordained at that point. They began the second half the same way they had the first — on the front foot, moving through the opposition midfield with ease as Idrissa Gueye and Tim Iroegbunam struggled to cope at times — and it took an excellent stop from Pickford to deny Morgan Rogers and an impressive block by Garner to divert the follow-up from Jacob Ramsey into Watkins to stop them wiping out the Blues’ lead before five minutes of the second period had elapsed.

And yet Everton remained dangerous, particularly given the home side’s high line and even despite them struggling to get Iliman Ndiaye fully into the game, and Calvert-Lewin really should at least have given Video Assistant Referee, David Coote a decision to make when he beat the offside trap and raced onto McNeil’s slide-rule pass. Unfortunately, he chose not to shoot early and bungled the attempt to round Martinez as Ezri Konsa recovered to toe it to safety inches past his own post.

Within four minutes, it was 2-2. Youri Tielemans swept a deep pass to the edge Everton’s box where Digne was accelerating past Harrison but the Toffees winger’s attempt to intercept was simply a toe-poke to Watkins who simply allowed the ball to drop before side-footing past Pickford.

Watkins, who was yet to score this season prior to today, could have had a hat-trick as John McGinn split Everton’s defence to find Rogers but his low centre skidded across goal ahead of the striker’s lunge. Then, Ian Maatsen followed the well-trodden path behind the visitors’ right-back position to cut the ball back for an unmarked Watkins but he steered it wide of the target.

In between, Dyche had seen fit to throw on Jake O’Brien and Orel Mangala but neither could prevent what Durán had up his sleeve. The forward, who had only been on the pitch for seven minutes, collected a pass some 30 yards out and just left fly with a shot that arced away off the outside of his foot and into the top corner with Pickford diving helplessly as it crashed into the net.

Still, there was a chance that Everton could have left the Midlands with something as McNeil once again delivered a measured pass for Calvert-Lewin to chase and shrug off Pau Torres but he scooped his shot off the face of the crossbar. One of those margins that Dyche bemoaned his team are falling the wrong side of at the moment.

If you look at the scoreline alone, he might have a point… but Everton have now shipped 13 goals in four matches, already reaching 25% of last season’s tally, and given up two-goal leads in successive games. Only Bournemouth have done that in the Premier League era and until today the Blues hadn’t lost their first four league games since 1958.

There was nothing fine about the margins of the opening-day defeat to Brighton, nor the drubbing at Tottenham, and the fact remains that most Premier League teams with mid-table aspirations should be able to hang on to at least get a point after being 2-0 up against almost any team in the division. Fans highlight the burgeoning statistics that underline the number of goals conceded when Keane is in the defence, and lament the absence of Jarrad Branthwaite and pray for his swift return now that he has resumed training, but it can’t be down to one player in either instance.

Just as they did against the Cherries last time out, Everton remained far too open and insisted on turning this contest into an end-to-end basketball match at times when the prudent thing would have been to sit in for periods and try to frustrate Villa with a low block. They again got punished by balls deep into their area before Durán produced his moment of magic. Villa move back into the top four; Everton remain rock bottom, with their desperation for points becoming more acute by the week.

Lyndon Lloyd

Matchday Updates

Everton achieved the impossible, squandering another 2-goal lead they had built up to shock Aston Villa, only to progressively collapse, with huge opportunities to win the game squandered by Calvert-Lewin.

It's been noticed that Sean Dyche's teams don't make good starts to the season, and this time is no different, with three losses and no points on the board, the manager taking heat for not playing his new arrivals who are deemed "not Premier League ready", and for his deeply ingrained predilection for not using enough substitutions early enough to influence games. 

Dyche's choices continue to be compromised by injuries, with Seamus Coleman added to the list thanks to his efforts for Ireland last week, where he joins Branthwaite, Patterson and Chermiti, with no word at all about Dele Alli, who was supposed to benefit from arranged match time behind closed doors during the International break.  

Dyche goes somewhat predictably with not one Ashely Young at right-back, with Garner and Dixon on the bench. Magala, O'Brien and Lindstrøm are presumably still not Premier League ready. 

For the home side, former Everton stars Lucas Digne and Amadou Onana start, with Ross Barkley on the bench as Villa kicked off, with Everton in the off-white and charcoal third strip.

Everton tried to gain possession but Gana ended up fouling his man, and Villa proceeded to knock it about. McNeil did well to get some possession but drove himself into touch. The pattern continued, with Villa in early control, and Everton soon surrendering the ball if they won it back.

Tielemans got in close to win a corner that was cleared. McGinn's shot was blocked behind for another corner, a superb delivery that Watkins saw cleared off the line by Ndiaye. Rogers was next with a lame potshot at Pickford. 

Digne then overlapped past Young and crossed well for Watkins to spoon his shot wide. Everton almost got forward only for Calvert-Lewin to give the ball up far too easily again, and return to the back foot. Ndiaye was given an utterly stupid yellow card for kicking the ball away. 

But out of nothing, Dwight McNeil won a challenge with Onana and drove forward with a speculative shot from distance that amazingly crept in at the far post! Fantastic finish!!!

Iroegbunam went too close to Onana with a high boot and he saw yellow. Ndiaye chased down a long Pickford punt but could not beat his man as Spirit of the Blues rang out from the travelling Blue Army. 

Calvert-Lewin did well to get a long punt back to McNeil, only to be flagged offside for his troubles. But Mykolenko wanted attention. Harrison won a freekick off Digne as Garner replaced Mykolenko, Young switching to left-back. From the free-kick, a wonderful ball swung in by McNeil was expertly glanced home by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who had done exceptionally well to stay onside. 

And in an instant, the game took on a whole different complexion. Even Watkins driving forward could do nothing against Tarkowski. Rogers was next but his shot was easy meat for Pickford to collect. 

A deep free-kick from Pickford saw Villa break but Tarkowski was there. End-to-end stuff ensued. Calvert-Lewin did some great held-up work but the ball was back with Villa far too soon and Digne overlapped Garner this time, crossing to Watkins who had a simple job to nod past Pickford off Keane and into the Everton net. Keane should really have got to it before Watkins?

The ball was delivered up to Calvert-Lewin but he could not fashion a strike on target. Villa attacked again, Gana fouling Ramsey. Tielemans's free-kick was kept away. Iroegbunam tried to break up the Villa play but Calvert-Lewin gave possession back and Rgers got in behind, but could not control the through ball.

At the other end, Ndiaye almost got the ball in to Calvert-Lewin, winning a corner as 7 minutes of stoppage time were added, but no-one could get on the corner and McNeil was offside in the second phase. 

Calvert-Lewin was fouled in the centre circle, but he could not control the long punt forward. Harrison did well to contain Digne this time, preventing the cross and drawing the foul. But Everton just could not retain possession. It was shocking at times how careless the play was.

A free-kick was punted up to Calvert-Lewin but he could not produce anything from it as the half-time whistle finally sounded with the Blues ahead at the break. 

Unai Emery exchanged one ex-Everton player for another — Barkley on for Onana — as McNeil kicked off the second half. It was nice to see Barkley's first pass to Digne roll past him and out of play. Keane did well to stop Watkins winning a ball over the top but Villa kept pushing forward. 

Slow build-up saw Rodgers denied by Pickford then Watkins's shot blocked by Garner when it looked very much like Villa would equalize. Pickford came out to head a deep clearance away but his return up to Calvert-Lewin bounced off the Everton man. 

Yong fed a good ball up to Calvert-Lewin but it ended up back in the Everton half when Calvert-Lewin was released and had far too much time to beat Martinez, allowing a defender to knock the ball behind for a corner that then came to nothing. What utterly abysmally centre-forward play from Calvert-Lewin, at his very worst.

But at least Everton were making a fist of this and getting a decent amount of the ball… they just looked so poor when it came to doing anything constructive with it. Calvert-Lewin was again released by a great Tarkowski ball and again he showed how pathetic he could be, passing back straight to a Villa player. 

And the punishment was swift, Watkins lashing a dreadful interception by Harrison past Pickford after it came to him on a plate.  

Everton should have been 4-2 up on the strength of a Calvert-Lewin hat-trick but it was now backs to the wall as Villa threw everything forward in their quest for a winner, with Everton's nervy self-confidence at rock-bottom.

Rodgers got behind the Everton defence for what would surely be another goal but somehow the cross evaded Watkins as Dyche made two remarkable early substitutions, O'Brien and Managla introduced. And O'Brein's first task was to brush Watkins aside. But Everton could not clear their lines as Villa piled on the pressure. Watkins won a corner off Young that came to nothing. 

A free-kick for a foul on Ireogbunam was finally crossed in for Keane to head softly at Martinez. Maatsen did well to get a ball back for Watkins who put his shot inches past the post when it looked far too easy for him to score. 

Everton got forward from a goal kick, McNeil crossing but inches away from Calvert-Lewin being able to convert it. That was a rare foray upfield and the Villa onslaught resumed. 

But substitute Duran saw an opportunity from a distance and hammered a worldie past Pickford, a tremendous strike that curled away from Pickford and was unstoppable. 

At the other end, Calvert-Lewin beat his man and got into space with only the goalkeeper — and the frame of the goal — to beat. It smacked off the bar and away.

End to end and Villa won a corner as Young was booked for dissent and Lindstrom replaced Ndiaye and Beto replaced Iroegbunam — five subs from Dyche... but the game was surely now lost with Villa in the ascendancy. 

Duran tried the highly acrobatic finish as Everton struggled to maintain any kind of shape. O'Brien was booked for a foul on Rogers, the free-kick delivered harmlessly to Pickford. Philogene needlessly fouled Young, giving Lindstrom a chance for a set-piece delivery into the Villa area but it came to nothing as 6 minutes of added time were played out. 

Lindstrom tried to reach Beto with a decent cross that Martinez snapped up. Duran got his header all wrong on a late Villa free-kick. 

Aston Villa: Martinez [Y:48'], Bogarde, Konsa, Pau, Digne (69' Maatsen), McGinn (89' Philogene), Onana (46' Barkley), Tielemans, Rogers, Ramsey (69' Duran), Watkins (84' Buendia).

Subs not Used: Gauci, Nedeljkovic, Diego Carlos, Young. 

Everton: Pickford, Young [Y:80'], Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko (26' Garner), Gana (64' Mangala), Iroegbunam [Y:19'] (81' Beto), Ndiaye [Y:14'] (81' Lindstrøm), Harrison (64' O'Brien), McNeil, Calvert-Lewin.

Subs not Used: Virginia, Beto, Doucoure, Armstrong, Dixon.

Referee: Craig Pawson
VAR: David Coote

Michael Kenrick

Match Preview

Everton go into their first game since their nine-minute nightmare at the end of their match against Bournemouth before the international break, hoping to make immediate amends in Saturday's televised clash with Aston Villa.

Sean Dyche's team somehow let a 2-0 lead slip by conceding twice in stoppage time and lost 3-2 before heading into a two-week hiatus from Premier League action with plenty of time to ruminate on what went wrong and how to fix it.

The manager was asked during his pre-match press conference how he explains an implosion like the one his team suffered in that match and how he and his staff go about picking the players up after such a psychological setback.

“I’d like to think after [my] 20 months here, the players would have learned to deal with those situations," Dyche replied. "Obviously, we didn’t on the day; we didn’t do the things that were necessary to see the game through and we’ve got to continually learn from that.

“You know, the game’s never over. I’ve been asked many times about not celebrating goals, and that’s why — the game’s never over. Until the game’s finished., then you can have a quiet celebration in my case, but that’s why I don’t go running up and down the pitch and that sort of stuff because the game [can] change.

“Against Bournemouth was a good example of that when the game should be dead, we know that. [A] very strong performance for 87-ish minutes and then we all saw what went on next.

“That was a really hard one to take and it happens from time to time. Fortunately not very often but it did happen, so how we deal with that and we talk to the players [is important] but most of them are mature enough to see if through and we just didn’t do that.”

Seamus Coleman has been described by Dyche as "touch and go" for this one after sustaining a knock on international duty with Ireland last weekend.

The Club captain had to be withdrawn from the Nations League match against England after taking a kick to the ankle from Harry Maguire but he has a small chance of being involved at Villa Park.

Dyche said that he will be assessed during the team's training session on Friday morning before any decision is made but the manager reiterated that Nathan Patterson and Jarrad Branthwaite remain a way from match fitness after recovering from their respective hamstring and hernia surgeries.

Both players have returned to training with the first-team in the hope that they can either figure in the Carabao Cup tie against Southampton next Tuesday or against Leicester the following Saturday.

Meanwhile, Orel Mangala is poised for this first involvement as an Everton player after arriving from Lyon on loan on transfer deadline day.

The Belgian went straight to join up with his Red Devils team-mates for their international fixtures over the break but arrived at Finch Farm "bright and breezy and wants to be part of the group", in Dyche's words and he is expected to be in the squad for the trip to Villa Park.

The former Nottingham Forest midfielder will wear the No.8 shirt vacated by Amadou Onana who joined the Villans over the summer in a £50m deal and if Mangala is handed his debut, the two compatriots could face off in midfield this weekend.

Onana, who made his own debut off the bench for Everton in this fixture two years ago, has made a strong start to life in the Midlands with two goals in his first three Premier League games but the Blues will be hoping for a repeat of their performance in the EFL Cup on this ground last season as opposed to the 4-0 drubbing they suffered against Unai Emery's men 13 months ago.

Everton ended Villa's long unbroken sequence of home wins by defeating them handsomely in the third round tie, with James Garner and Dominic Calvert-Lewin on target in a 2-1 victory.

Coleman's likely absence this weekend leaves a problem once again at right back where Ashley Young is Dyche's preferred option when fit again, even if James Garner might be better suited due to his comparative youth and versatility. It's almost inconceivable that the conservative Dyche would consider young Roman Dixon, despite his strong debut against Tottenham last month.

Assuming the manager doesn't opt for a back five, the central-defensive pairing is likely to be unchanged with Branthwaite still out. Michael Keane has been preferred to Jake O’Brien and almost certainly will again given the fact that the latter has yet to play a single Premier League minute for the club since arriving from Lyon.

The game will see other reunions, with Tim Iroegbunam returning to his old stomping ground and Lucas Digne going up against his former club once more. And, regrettably, this match will also reunite the referee/VAR double-act of Craig Pawson and David Coote who oversaw the hugely controversial Anfield derby last season.

Iliman Ndiaye is surely a shoo-in after his revelatory display against Bournemouth and will likely be deployed in the same front attacking as against the Cherries with Jack Harrison and Dwight McNeil.

Villa come into the game having won two of their opening three fixtures, with their only defeat coming to title-chasing Arsenal at the Emirates. They will be strong favorites based on their excellent 2023–24 season and Everton's horrific start to the current campaign.

However, they no longer boast the awesome home record that they did when the two teams last met at Villa Park — they have only won a third of their last dozen home fixtures and have the added distraction of their first Champions League match looming on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, they have attacking talent in abundance even with Leon Bailey almost certain to miss out. The Jamaican winger, who scored this game last season, has a hamstring injury and will be sidelined but Emery is hopeful that summer Everton transfer target Jaden Philogene could replace him if he is passed fit.

Matty Cash and Diego Carlos are also ruled out along with longer-term absentees Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings but there had been no news about Ollie Watkins, who came back early from England duty with an unspecified issue, until Friday morning.  

The striker netted a penalty in a 2-0 Villa win at Goodison Park in February last year and, as such, wouldn't be missed by Dyche and company this weekend but Emery has confirmed he is available.

First and foremost, the Blues fans who will be travelling down en masse to Birmingham will want to see a response in terms of the performance from Dyche's men. A positive result of any kind would be warmly received but avoiding the kind of hiding the Toffees suffered here last season is a must.

Kick-off: 5:30 pm, Saturday 14 September 2024
Referee: Craig Pawson
VAR: David Coote
Last Time: Aston Villa 4 - 0 Everton

Predicted Line-up: Pickford, Young, Keane, Tarkowski, Mykolenko, Gueye, Iroegbunam, Harrison, McNeil, Ndiaye, Calvert-Lewin

Lyndon Lloyd

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