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Everton suffered their first home defeat under Sean Dyche against Aston Villa as Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendia did enough to claim a 2-0 win.
The Toffees started the game slowly and were thankful to Jordan Pickford for a big save to deny Ollie Watkins early before growing more into the game.
The pressure built slowly as fans got behind the team, but Neal Maupay missed a big chance late in the half before the teams went into the break goalless.
Everton started on the front foot in the second half and were incredibly unlucky not to find themselves ahead when Alex Iwobi’s strike ricocheted off a defender and was then headed towards goal, only for Tyrone Mings to clear off the line.
The team fell behind though after Idrissa Gueye was deemed to have fouled John McGinn in the box, with Ollie Watkins converting the penalty, before Emiliano Buendia scored late on and sealed all three points for the visitors.
Here are the player ratings from Goodison News from today’s game…
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Jordan Pickford – 7/10
What a performance from Pickford.. two brilliant saves, including one that is potentially the save of the season. Could do nothing about the penalty, and the team didn’t deserve to lose this game.
Seamus Coleman – 5/10
The skipper looked to build on his performance last week against Leeds but he struggled with the physicality of Jacob Ramsey at times. It wasn’t his best outing, but the team still looked for him to inspire at times.
Conor Coady – 7/10
Coady was excellent throughout the game, silencing the Villa attack for the vast majority of the game and playing some brilliant passes out from the back to the forwards to speed up the play.
James Tarkowski – 5/10
Tarkowski didn’t have the greatest time against Watkins’ pace early on, but eventually he got more of a handle on him and did well. Should do better for the Buendia goal too.
Vitalii Mykolenko – 6/10
The Ukrainian was a threat going forward, but got caught out by the running of Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins when pushing on. Should do better against Watkins for the second goal, and needs to start offering more to keep his place.
Abdoulaye Doucoure – 7/10
Been one of the most consistent performers in the team since Dyche’s arrival, and put in another strong showing here. Ran all day, broke the lines well with dribbling and passing, but the lack of goal threat meant those dangerous positions meant little.
Idrissa Gueye – 5/10
A strong showing to help control the midfield until he conceded the penalty, which seemed to rock his confidence a little. After that he struggled and was nowhere to be seen for the counter-attacking second goal.
Amadou Onana – 5/10
Suffered a knee injury last wee but still started here, but looked a shadow of his usual imposing and influential self. A booking inside the opening 120 seconds probably didn’t help, but an afternoon to forget for the Belgian.
Alex Iwobi – 5/10
Iwobi was a threat with his dribbling and energy, but that end product was a problem again. His crossing was decent, but always looked better in central areas and is surely something Dyche must look at going forward.
Dwight McNeil – 7/10
A fantastic first half performance from the ex-Burnley man who constantly had the beating of Matty Cash and put in plenty of crosses into the box, but had no natural goalscorer looking to attack them. His influence dwindled in the second half, but still the best performer on they day.
Neal Maupay – 3/10
He was lucky not to be substituted at half-time after a shocking performance in the first half, and it didn’t improve in the second half before he was substituted and replaced by Ellis Simms. Doesn’t look the required level we need here at all and will be lucky to start next week.
Substitutes
Ellis Simms – N/A
Demarai Gray – N/A
Tom Davies – N/A