Aston Villa shared the spoils with Everton at Villa Park on Thursday night as we cancelled each other out in a goalless stalemate.
The two sides met not long ago at Goodison Park, with Villa coming out on top in our best performance in months.
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However, we weren’t able to match that in midweek, as we struggled to create any clear chances of note despite enjoying spells of possession and controlling the game.
There was a major positive with Jack Grealish making his comeback from injury in the second half, but that wasn’t enough to inspire us to seal all three points.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Everton:
Emiliano Martinez, 8 – Equalled the club record with his 15th clean sheet this season, and produced a few top saves to make it happen as he kept Everton at bay. Has been a critical signing for us, and he showed his class again.
Matty Cash, 6 – Had a difficult time defensively and was limited in his attacking threat, while a hamstring injury may well have ended his season early if severe.
Ezri Konsa, 8 – Solid performance as he dealt with any danger with minimal fuss and played a key role in helping us keep yet another clean sheet this season.
Tyrone Mings, 8 – Led by example with his bravery and class as he made crucial interceptions to preserve the clean sheet. Should have done better with a chance in the first half at the other end to help us seal a win.
Matt Targett, 8 – Another top display as he was on his game defensively to deal with Everton’s threat down their right flank. While he also played a part in our attacking play too as he offered support whenever possible.
Douglas Luiz, 6 – Worked hard for the team as he covered plenty of ground and battled to gain a foothold in midfield. Did have periods of sloppiness in his distribution though, and he needs to tidy that up.
John McGinn, 7.5 – Brilliant in the first half in particular as he was everywhere. Work ethic can never be questioned, while he was popping up in various areas and playing an important role in our build-up play from midfield.
Bertrand Traore, 6 – Showed flashes of his class and trickery to cause problems for the Everton defence, but couldn’t quite produce the quality needed in the attacking phase to find a breakthrough.
Ross Barkley, 5 – Having seemingly made positive steps in recent weeks with more confidence and freedom in his play, this was a big step back for the Chelsea loanee. Little to nothing came off for him as he gave away possession on multiple occasions and didn’t make a telling contribution to our attack.
Anwar El Ghazi, 6 – The inconsistency continues to be an issue. On some days he puts in an impressive shift and produces magic moments to help us win games. On others, he goes missing and struggles to bring much to the table. This was one of the latter.
Keinan Davis, 6 – Worked hard and showed his strength and movement to give the Everton defence problems. However, although his hold-up play was effective at times, there wasn’t much of a genuine threat to Everton’s goal throughout the game from him.
Substitutes:
Ahmed Elmohamady, 6.5 – The stalwart did well after coming on to replace the injured Cash. Put in a diligent shift.
Jacob Ramsey, 6.5 – Gave us some fresh impetus and a bit more quality going forward. As has been the case for a while now though, wasn’t able to make a significant contribution to the game.
Jack Grealish, 7 – An absolute joy to see him back in action as he came on to make his comeback in the second half. His ability to draw defenders in and in turn force them to vacate space for his Villa teammates to exploit is brilliant to watch. Got some minutes in his legs, can hopefully step it up on Sunday.