Aston Villa entertained Everton at Villa Park earlier today as they hoped to earn maximum points at home. The Villans made a bright start to the game and got their noses ahead in the 31st minute courtesy of Danny Ings’ excellent left-footed finish. Steven Gerrard’s men controlled the game well and went into the half-time break 1-0 ahead on the scoreline.
Emiliano Buendia came off the bench to find the back of the net for the Villans from close range in the 85th minute. However, Lucas Digne scored an unfortunate own goal which have the visitors some hope of a late comeback. However, the West Midlands club hung on to their narrow advantage and got over the line with an impressive 2-1 win in front of the home supporters.
Let’s take a look at how each Aston Villa player fared during the clash against the Toffees.
GK: Emiliano Martinez – 7.5/10
The talented keeper made a few important saves in the second half. However, he will be disappointed for failing to keep a clean sheet.
RB: Matty Cash – 7/10
He performed his defensive duties well but struggled to influence the game in the final third.
CB: Diego Carlos – 6.5/10
The Brazilian centre-back made a couple of vital contributions on the defensive end of the field and was a threat at the other end of the field as well.
CB: Tyrone Mings – 6.5/10
Mings was strong in the air and deserves credit for clearing the danger when needed.
LB: Lucas Digne – 6/10
Digne did his best to frustrate the Everton attackers but ended up scoring an own goal late in the game. Fortunately for him, it didn’t cost his team any points.
CDM: Boubacar Kamara – 7/10
He anchored the midfield with conviction and made one good run in the opposition half.
CM: John McGinn – 7.5/10
McGinn got stuck in with some solid tackles and caused a few headaches for the opposition defenders.
CM: Jacob Ramsey – 6.5/10
He came back to defend when needed and engineered one key chance in the final third.
CAM: Philippe Coutinho – 6/10
The Brazilian playmaker struggled to get into the flow of the game and came off with an injury early in the second half.
ST: Danny Ings – 7/10
Ings opened the goal-scoring with a great strike in the first half. However, he failed to be a threat in the second.
ST: Ollie Watkins – 8/10
The English striker caused all kinds of problems for the Everton centre-backs and managed to set up both of Aston Villa’s goals today.
Substitutes:
CAM: Emiliano Martinez – 7.5/10
He made an instant impact as a substitute and scored his team’s decisive second goal from close range to seal the win.
RW: Leon Bailey – 6.5/10
He used his pace well but failed to register a goal.
CB: Ezri Konsa – N/A
Konsa hardly had any time to make an impact.
RB: Ashley Yong – N/A
He came on for the final few minutes of this game.
CB: Calum Chambers – N/A
Chambers came on to run the clock down for the home side.
