Goodison Tactics: Why did Everton lose 3-0 to Aston Villa
Saturday evening saw the first defeat of the Rafael Benitez era as Everton were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Aston Villa.
It was 0-0 at half-time, but after Matty Cash scored, the Toffees collapsed, and Villa ran riot in the end [Match of the Day].
However, what was to blame for the defeat? Did Benitez get something wrong, or were the goals more down to individual errors?
Well, before the game even started, the Toffees were slightly handicapped as they were without the likes of Richarlison, Jordan Pickford, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Three guaranteed starters, and while Salomon Rondon was handed his first start in an Everton shirt, he was provided with very little service.
However, the goal that Cash scored to open the scoring was definitely avoidable.
Digne is then beaten to the ball by Cash, who comes into the box on his left foot and thumps in a fine finish.
So, there are a lot of individual mistakes here, and the only thing you can really criticise Benitez for is that the team were perhaps caught between pressing and soaking up the pressure.
However, he can’t do anything about the individual errors that contribute to this goal.
The second goal was an own goal from Digne, and, once again, there are a few individual errors.
So that was the second goal and you would have to say that Begovic and Digne are at fault here.
The third goal was a quick counter-attack by Dean Smith’s men, but again, there were some very avoidable errors.
This was a brutal second-half collapse from the Toffees, but it is very clear that every goal was avoidable.
There were individual errors in every goal, so we don’t really think you can blame Benitez for this one.
Hopefully, it will prove to be just a bad day at the office, and the Toffees return to winning ways on Tuesday and then against Norwich City at the weekend.
In other Everton news, Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on James Rodriguez.
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