Aston Villa returned to Premier League action following another boring International break. Unai Emery’s side welcomed Sean Dyche and his Everton side to Villa Park in the Saturday evening kick-off.
Everton have struggled so far this season having failed to win any of their opening three Premier League games. From the outside, there looks to be a similar vibe to the one Villa experienced when we were relegated in 2016 but there is a long season ahead to change that.
Villa have won two and lost one of their opening three Premier League games and some supporters will have one eye on the Champions League campaign that kicks off on Tuesday. It will be the first time Villa have played in the competition since 1983.
Over the past few weeks, there has been much talk about Villa’s off-the-field issues with fans being upset about various aspects of the club so it was nice to get back to what we all enjoy the most – the football.
Despite worries over their fitness, Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa were both named in the starting line-up. Jacob Ramsey was handed his first start of the season as he came in to replace the injured Leon Bailey.
Lamare Bogarde continued to deputise for the injured Matty Cash. Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara have stepped up their return to full fitness but are both said to be a few more weeks away.
Despite dominating the early proceedings the home side found themselves behind when Dwight McNeill won the ball from Amadou Onana and then found the corner of the net leaving Emi Martinez with no chance.
Fans were left even more stunned moments later when Everton doubled their lead against the run of play. McNeill swung in a free-kick from the right wing and found an unmarked Domonic Calvert-Lewin to head in from close range.
Despite the two-goal advantage, the fans got behind the side. They knew this wasn’t a Villa side of old and there was plenty of time to get back into the game.
Villa did pull one back just before the break. Onana picked out Lucas Digne who was galloping down the left and the French International crossed the ball into the box for Ollie Watkins who climbed above Michael Keane to head past Jordan Pickford. The comeback was on.
The visitors had a chance to score a third early in the second half when McNeill played Calvert-Lewin through but as he approached Martinez he turned inside and allowed Konsa to recover and put the ball out for a corner. It would have been interesting to see had he scored if he beat the offside trap as it looked offside to me.
Villa were soon back level when Youri Tielemans played a high ball for the running Digne but Jack Harrison cut the pass out but played it into the feet of Watkins who was able to score his second of the afternoon.
And then the magic. A goal worth the entrance fee alone. Substitutes Ross Barkley and Jhon Durán linked up before the Columbian unleashed an outrageous long-range effort leaving England goalkeeper Pickford no chance as the comeback was complete.
It was the second time in two Premier League games that Everton had thrown away a 2-0 lead.
Ollie Watkins returned to the goals scoring two and he possibly could have ended up with four or five. The striker who is known for being very critical of himself looked back to his best and was a joy to watch.
Emery: “Losing 2-0, we were playing well and we were dominating, imposing our positioning and creating chances. We didn’t score and we conceded two opportunities to them and they scored.
“The supporters were really, really understanding of how we could come back the result by being patient, playing with our structure and not changing anything.
“We were creating chances and we scored one goal in the first half but we created more chances. In the second half, we got the same structure and the supporters were helping us and supporting us.”
Dyche: “We’re certainly taking some knocks at the minute. Every mistake seems to be a goal, and every chance we don’t quite capitalise on.”
“Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the margins again today. It’s a tough one to take, for different reasons than the last game. We’re down to a low squad anyway, so it’s been a challenge – without a shadow of a doubt.”
Aston Villa will head to Switzerland to kick off their Champions League campaign as they take on Young Boys Bern on Tuesday evening. They will then return to Villa Park next weekend when they host Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.
Everton will host Southampton on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup and then head to Leicester City next Saturday in the Premier League.
