Everton 0 – 0 Aston Villa
Everton found it really difficult to extend their early-season winning run when goalless Aston Villa thwarted every Blues move at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday. But Beto was Everton’s bete noir for his clumsy awkward missed chances.
No great surprises in the Everton line-up (apart from Nathan Patterson on the bench!), with Iliman Ndiaye declared fit to start after a little scare. In defence, Michael Keane is making his 200th Premier League appearance for the club, while Beto leads the attack.
Mykolenko is injured so James Garner drops back into the left-back slot, with Jake O’Brien continuing at right-back.
Jack Grealish and Tim Iroegbunam take the field against their former club, while Lucas Digne starts for Villa, but Onana is out injured.
First Half
The Villains kicked off… sort of, with Martinez standing on the ball for 15 seconds… Everton pushed forward first and Ndiaye played in Beto but the big man tripped over his own feet with the goal gaping and the ball squirmed behind, with Mings going down and needing treatment before he returned.
Villa’s main ploy was to deny possession to Everton but that failed and Everton tried to work it in, Grealish very active, winning the ball back and clipping it up to the back post where Beto had strayed offside. A brilliant ball forward from Tarkowski was delivered perfectly for Beto to receive behind the Villa defence but he made a total mess of it.
A free-kick wide left was sent in by Dewsbury-Hall but Michael Keane headed over.
From a good position, wide left, with Grealish pressing, Everton worked it all the way back to Pickford, then forward for a long throw-in wide right. Ndiaye skipped forward down the right channel, his cross defended for a throw-in. That was delivered in well, Beto’s shot blocked before Grealish fired at Martinez, the ensuing corner drawing a foul on Martinez.
Villa looked dangerous when Digne overlapped down the left, his cross headed away by O’Brien. Another brilliant ball played forward straight to Beto’s feet was immediately lost and Tarkowski was called for a perfectly good tackle on Rogers.
Grealish worked for a corner this time that Martinez did well to paw away. It allowed Villa to mount an attack but they got themselves offside. Still, Everton found it hard to play out until Grealish was fouled.
Buendia somehow got a free-kick off Ndiaye, who redeemed himself, drawing a foul off Digne by denying him the ball. An Everton long throw from Garner almost caused havoc but Martinez stole the ball off Keane’s boot.
Another push forward saw Grealish win another corner, Keane with the header at the near post but it was too high for him and went over. Grealish drew a challenge from Cash that earnt him the first yellow card.
A decent Everton attack was affected by memorial applause in the crowd and Villa got forward as a result, a shot fortunately blocked. It was a pretty competitive game with Villa looking increasingly threatening when they were allowed to advance.
Some great forward play by Ndiaye was spoilt by an overhit cross that Grealish tried to return but it was cleared and Villa surged forward again. Keane had to give them their first corner, which Everton cleared but with no one upfield.
The Everton counter did eventually win a corner, the ball shanked behind by Bogarde, that somehow squirmed off Teilemans’s knee and just wide for a second corner. Garner played it to Gana in space and he felt he just had to take one of his awful wasteful shots way off-target.
Ndiaye lost the ball and Iroegbunam fouled Watkins from behind, drawing a yellow card for a dangerous free-kick but Digne could only hit the blue wall and that was pretty much it for a challenging first half in which Everton had come close but not close enough to scoring.
Second Half
It was equally competitive going into the second half, with Tielemans replaced.
A fantastic ball in from Garner was again perfect for Beto to convert… but somehow it squirmed past him and wide of the far post. Just incredible how that one was not converted!!!
Greaslish and Dewsbury-Hall rather overplayed it — why not just hit it instead of again playing in Beto for no real end product? At the other end, a great run and a deflected shot by Buendia that just curled inches beyond the far post gave Pickford a fright.
Villa surged forward again and Tarkowski had to play it behind as Villa took the initiative. Cash’s corner caused panic but Digne’s shot to the far corner was caught well by Pickford. Another Villa attack was thwarted but the Blues struggled to advance themselves until Digne fouled Ndiaye.
Dewsbury-Hall took the deep free-kick, which was poor but it came through to Beto and yet again, he failed to hammer it at goal and the chance was gone in a flash. A great pullback from Watkins picked out Buendia who set himself for an acrobatic strike but Iroegbunam did brilliantly to block him without conceding a penalty.
Great determination by Dewsbury-Hall won the ball high up, his cross/shot parried by Martinez out to O’Brien as Digne got hurt in the melee, O’Brien’s shot blocked, Ireogbunam’s deflected well wide. The corner was taken after Digne was removed for treatment, and going out of play.
Iroegbunam was replaced by Röhl, with Everton now seriously deficient in midfield. Grealish was trying his tricks and seemed to be fouled by Guessand but Simon Hoper saw it differently. Then Buendia saw yellow for his awful tackle from behind on Ndiaye.
Some real magic from Grealish led to a wonderful header from Michael Keane and an absolutely brilliant save from Martinez to deny him. Everton tried to spring a decent move from a corner but Ndiaye was thwarted and a goal kick given rather than a corner.
Everton had done a lot better since Röhl came on and finally Barry replaced Beto, who quite frankly had been hopeless.
The fraught and fractious nature of the game continued unabated, Ndiaye stopping Elliott from shooting. Digne’s free-kick was well held by Pickford as Watkins powered in on him. Grealish tried again but his book of tricks did not include beating three men at once, after holding it for too long.
Guessand fouled Dewsbury-Hall. Röhl tried a shot from way out but he was even worse than Idrissa Gana Gueye! Villa attacked but overhit their final pass.
Ndiaye beat himself with one of his own pirouettes and Villa attacked again with the minutes ticking away. But Röhl got the ball through to Barry who was marshalled well, his shot pushed wide.
From the corner, Grealish played it back for Garner who drilled it but this time it was deflected high. More Grealish magic from the corner, Keane flinging himself but not enough contact to get his header on target.
In to 5 minutes of added time, Everton tried again, Grealish again closed down quickly by a posse. Barry and Konsa chased down a ball but Barry couldn’t stop himself grabbing a handful of shirt.
A really difficult game, 20 efforts at goal but only 2 on target, and no goals.
Everton: Pickford, O’Brien, Keane, Tarkowski, Garner, Gana, Iroegbunam [Y:45+1′] (66′ Röhl), Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall [Y;65′], Grealish [Y;69′], Beto (75′ Barry).
Subs not Used: Travers, Patterson, McNeil, Dibling, Coleman, Alcaraz, Aznou.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash [Y:34′], Konsa, Mings, Digne [Y:57′], McGinn, Tielemans (46′ Guessand), Buendia [Y:70′] (71′ Elliott), Watkins (83′ Malen), Bogarde (83′ Lindelof), Rogers.
Subs not Used: Bizot, Proctor, Torres, Sancho, Maatsen.
Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistants: Adrian Holmes & Simon Long
Fourth Official: Darren England
Video Assistant Referee: John Brooks
Assistant VAR: Neil Davies
Attendance: 52,114