Aston Villa were held to a goalless draw by Everton on Sunday, on a frustrating afternoon for Unai Emery and his side at Goodison Park.
In what was a scrappy encounter, Villa showed a gritty side to our play to match Everton and ensure it was a competitive clash, but ultimately we lacked quality and inventiveness in attacking areas to find a breakthrough.
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With that in mind, it was a disappointing outcome as we certainly showed more intent and desire to go on and win the game, but we were made to settle for a share of the spoils and missed an opportunity to stretch the gap over our rivals in the race for a top-four finish.
Emery made multiple second-half changes to try and find a way through a stubborn Everton defence, but with the stop-start nature of the game which disrupted our rhythm and suited the home side, we’ll hope to learn from the experience and improve moving forward.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Everton:
Emiliano Martinez, 8 – Made his customary decisive impact on the game with a crucial double save in the first half to deny Calvert-Lewin and Garner. Commanded his area well throughout and alert when needed.
Ezri Konsa, 6 – Solid defensive shift as he kept things tight on our right side, but didn’t add much going forward in the attacking phase with our more dangerous play coming down the left.
Diego Carlos, 7 – Did well to keep Calvert-Lewin quiet for the most part, as he used his physicality and reading of the game well while looking composed in possession to keep us ticking over.
Clement Lenglet, 7 – Another steady shift from the Frenchman, as although he got the offside trap wrong for Everton’s big chance in the first half, he was switched on and solid defensively to help us keep a clean sheet.
Alex Moreno, 7 – Produced a great finish but saw his effort ruled out, but he was a constant threat down the left flank with his dangerous runs forward to give us an important attacking dynamic and width.
Leon Bailey, 6 – Didn’t have the desired impact in the final third, as he couldn’t cause Everton significant problems with our more promising play coming down the opposite flank. Needs to maintain his consistency after a fantastic first half of the campaign.
Boubacar Kamara, 7 – Imposed himself well in midfield to help us keep control for long periods, breaking up Everton’s play out of possession while getting the ball forward into the feet of others quickly to set a good tempo.
Douglas Luiz, 6 – Continues to play a key role with his technical quality and composure in dictating our play, but wasn’t quite as decisive with his final ball when needed and didn’t add enough of an attacking threat going forward.
John McGinn, 6 – Tenacious as always as he battled hard to give us a foothold in the game, but wasn’t able to pair that with quality in the attacking phase as he usually provides more of a threat on the turn and playing key passes in the build-up to our goals.
Moussa Diaby, 5 – Another quiet performance from the Frenchman, as he is still searching for his best form and a decisive touch in the final third. Need more from him to unlock teams, whether that’s through his movement to stretch defences or making a direct impact in front of goal.
Ollie Watkins, 6.5 – Did well off the ball to give us a focal point up top and showed good touch at times to link our play together. However, didn’t pose much of a direct goal threat despite decent service, and so he’ll be disappointed he couldn’t be more influential to help us find a winner.
Substitutes:
Jhon Duran, 6 – Almost found a breakthrough but his effort went agonisingly wide. A positive impact off the bench, albeit needs to stay focused on the task at hand and not get involved when the opposition antagonise us.
Youri Tielemans, 6 – A real boost to have him back as he showed good awareness to pick up good positions in space and play dangerous passes. His influence will no doubt grow as he builds his fitness back up.
Matty Cash, 6 – Added an important dynamic to our play in the closing stages by bringing more width down the right, but couldn’t find a way through the Everton defence.
Nicolo Zaniolo, N/A
