Aston Villa welcomed Everton at Villa Park earlier this evening as they looked to secure a victory in front of their home fans. Both teams fought tooth and nail in the first 45 minutes but struggled to break each other down as they went into the half-time break with a goalless scoreline.
The Villans were more adventurous in the second half and finally got their noses ahead in the 66th minute via Matty Cash’s magnificent solo goal. Lucas Digne netted an unfortunate own goal just three minutes later which put daylight between the two sides. Leon Bailey added another goal in the 75th minute as the West Midlands outfit secured an impressive 3-0 win in the Premier League.
Let’s take a look at how each Aston Villa player fared during the match against the Toffees.
GK: Emiliano Martinez – 7/10
The Villans keeper had to make one save in the game and earned a comfortable clean sheet at home. He passed the ball accurately as well.
RB: Matty Cash – 8.5/10
Cash was strong in the air and scored a brilliant goal in the second half which will live long in the memories of the Villa supporters. He deserved to be named the man of the match.
CB: Ezri Konsa – 7/10
He kept a good defensive shape at the back and cruised to an easy clean sheet at Villa Park.
CB: Axel Tuanzebe – 7/10
Tuanzebe won a few important aerial duels for his team and did enough work defensively to restrict the Toffees from scoring during the 90 minutes.
CB: Tyrone Mings – 8/10
Mings was a commanding presence inside the Villa penalty box and made some crucial blocks to deny the opposition a goal. Dean Smith will be quite encouraged by his defensive display today.
LB: Matt Targett – 7/10
He performed his defensive duties well and made one key chance in the Everton half. Targett was replaced at the hour mark.
CM: Jacob Ramsey – 7/10
The English midfielder was quite bright on the ball and pulled off a couple of exciting dribbles going forward.
CM: Douglas Luiz – 8/10
The Brazilian midfield ace protected the Villa backline well and created multiple inviting chances for his teammates to score.
CM: John McGinn – 6.5/10
McGinn was full of energy but could last only 39 minutes before he had to come off with an injury (suspected concussion).
ST: Danny Ings – 7/10
The former Liverpool striker struggled to get into the game at times but still found ways to make himself useful in the final third. He even worked hard to help out his teammates at the back.
ST: Ollie Watkins – 6.5/10
Watkins orchestrated one good opportunity during the game but never looked like he had a goal in him.
Substitutes:
CM: Marvelous Nakamba – 6.5/10
Nakamba made a couple of interceptions for his team.
LM: Leon Bailey – 7/10
He came off the bench to net Villa’s third goal but had to go off soon after because of an injury.
LM: Ashley Young – N/A
The veteran player hardly had any time to influence the game.
RM: Bertrand Traore – N/A
Traore came on to run the clock down for the Villans.
