Unai Emery had his eye on joining Liverpool at the top of the Premier League but Aston Villa failed to capitalize on the opportunity on a dreary afternoon at Goodison Park. A fine goal from Alex Moreno was disallowed after a stinging VAR review, but for the first time this season the command and clinical touch that Villa have in abundance at home was absent from their travels. This was not the performance of a title contender.
Everton ended their series of three league defeats in a row with the points they deserved at 212.This The edition of English football’s most played fixture. Sean Dyche’s side had a superb chance to take the lead just before half-time but Emiliano Martínez denied Dominic Calvert-Lewin when the striker met the Villa goalkeeper one-on-one.
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Having weathered the early Everton pressure, Villa took control of the first half with Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara dictating from midfield. Their reward came with a delightful goal from Alex Moreno, who sent his sweetest shots into Jordan Pickford’s bottom left corner after Luiz and Leon Bailey had caught Everton out with a well-worked short corner routine. Bailey looked offside as he exchanged passes with John McGinn, who was covering the left back on the edge of the penalty area. Four minutes later VAR confirmed what the naked eye could see.
It took a ridiculous amount of time for the goal to be disallowed, given that VAR was checking both for Bailey’s offside and whether Clement Lenglet had fouled Arnaut Danjuma as he wrestled in the corner. Villa fans responded to the infuriating pause in proceedings by singing “VAR is a piece of shit”. This says it all about technology seriously damaging the game, especially for match-going fans; Even Everton fans joined in the chant as their team benefited.
Villa created other good opportunities to break the deadlock as the home side fell deeper and deeper. Moussa Diaby sent Ollie Watkins into the box but the striker’s shot was blocked by Pickford’s legs. The Everton goalkeeper denied Villa once again as he made an excellent save to deny Bailey’s first-time effort into the bottom corner.
Everton’s best chance of the first half fell to Calvert-Lewin. The centre-forward made a clean play with a perfect pass from Danjuma, but he carried the burden of 12 matches without conceding a goal with his long run towards Martínez. The World Cup-winning goalkeeper stood his ground and blocked a low shot, then instantly made the save better by turning James Garner’s follow-up effort around a post. This was Calvert-Lewin’s only opportunity to end his goal drought. Dyche was replaced by Beto just after the hour as he looked to inject new intensity and presence into the Everton attack. It was very needed.
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The second half was boring in comparison. The determination and diligence of both teams cannot be faulted, but apart from a brief flare-up when James Tarkowski cleared Moreno and won the ball with a hard tackle, the action was woefully lacking. Lenglet and the Everton centre-half were injured above the eyes by an elbow from Watkins early in the match, and were both booked for their respective parts in the scuffle that followed. Tarkowski caught out Diaby with a similarly powerful tackle in the Everton penalty area, but neither referee David Coote nor VAR were impressed by the striker’s penalty call.
Villa came closest to igniting the show and winning late on. Substitute Matty Cash looked set to score with five minutes of regulation time remaining, Moreno’s low cross from the left deflected into his path from eight yards out, Vitaliy Mykolenko, whose head was bandaged after an aerial collision with Tarkowski, darted in front of Cash’s shot. To block perfectly. The rebound fell to McGinn, but his effort also hit a dark blue shirt before being hacked away by Séamus Coleman.
A giant banner of Coleman adorned the end of Gwladys Street before kick-off. On the day the 35-year-old player broke the Premier League record for Everton with his 355-hit performance, it was written “15 years of Seamus”.This Gezi. A great achievement by a great servant and one of the smartest signings in Premier League history. This incident will not stay long in the memory, however, had substitute Jhon Durán directed Cash’s cross to the far post. He missed by inches and Emery presided over a goalless draw for the first time in his 97-game Premier League career.