Premier League release statement after Everton controversy vs Aston Villa
Everton thought they had taken an early lead against Aston Villa.
David Moyes’ side are more than in this game at Villa Park, having seen an early effort come back off the post, while also having several other half-chances.
Villa’s only real chance of the first 45 fell to Evann Guessand, whose header looped over Jordan Pickford and came back off the underside of the crossbar.
However, the Villans were perhaps lucky to go into the break level, after Everton had a goal disallowed, with a reason now shared for the decision.
Why was Everton’s goal disallowed vs Aston Villa?
Given the height that Everton have in their team, it was always going to be set pieces and crosses where they pose most of their threat.
After 33 minutes, it looked as though that had paid off when Jake O’Brien wheeled away in celebration after finding the back of the net with a header.
The flag went up for offside immediately, with VAR checking and clearing the decision, much to the bemusement of Moyes and his team.
Their reasoning for disallowing the goal was shared in a statement on the Premier League Match Centre account, which reads: “The referee’s call of no goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that Armstrong interfered with an opponent’s ability to play the ball from an offside position.“
It was Harrison Armstrong who jumped for the header, with O’Brien behind him.
However, given the fact that Armstrong made a genuine attempt to play the ball, Everton can have very few issues with the decision.
Stats show where Everton are coming up short against Aston Villa
This game could easily go either way, but Everton are not playing to their strengths for the most part.
That cross that led to O’Brien’s disallowed goal was one of just two completed crosses in the first half, with five attempted.
Everton have got into several positions where they could have delivered a ball into the box, but instead played it back and maintained possession.
The Toffees can and will dominate in the air against the Villans, and Moyes needs to ensure that those changes are made for the second period, though it may require a personnel change with Dwight McNeil again failing to offer any real threat.
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