Aston Villa 4 Everton 0
If there was a moment that summed up the festering frustrations among Everton supporters then it arrived on 38 minutes, by which point this bludgeoning was as good as over. Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed for the tunnel holding an ice pack to his face following an early collision with Emiliano Martínez and a swell of travelling fans jeered his premature exit. Calvert-Lewin, who completed 90 minutes in a friendly at the beginning of the week, responded by sarcastically putting his right thumb up by way of thanks and muttered a few words under his breath.
For the second successive season, Everton have nil points from their opening two matches. The painful reality is Aston Villa wiped the floor with Everton. This fixture is the most played in English league history, the game their 211th top-flight meeting, but on this evidence Everton have much work to do to ensure a repeat of this trip next season. It seemed Sean Dyche’s side may even get off lightly until the Villa substitute Jhon Durán scored with his first touches.
Ashley Young, who made 200-plus appearances for Villa across two spells, sold Michael Keane short with a long throw and Durán nipped in to calmly slot past Jordan Pickford. It was an afternoon to forget for the Everton goalkeeper, who conceded a first-half penalty to allow Douglas Luiz to double Villa’s lead inside 25 minutes. Pickford caught Ollie Watkins with a wild punch, a left hook as the striker attempted to convert from close range and while James Tarkowski hacked the ball clear, the Everton captain’s goalline clearance proved in vain.
If Everton were bad, Villa were barnstorming. They earned a corner within 13 seconds and captain John McGinn got the ball rolling, side-footing in a neat volley after Moussa Diaby combined with Leon Bailey.
It should have been 3-0 on 27 minutes, at which point all sides of this stadium partook in a minute’s applause for Michael Jones, the 26-year-old construction worker who lost his life at the site of Everton’s Bramley-Moore Dock stadium on Monday. Bailey chopped inside Idrissa Gueye, the former Villa midfielder, but Diaby’s shot from Douglas Luiz’s layoff was tame. The same could not be said for Diaby’s next effort, a sumptuous volley that smacked a post via Pickford’s left glove. Villa supporters gasped as replays were shown on the big screens in opposite corners.
Villa were rampant and should have been out of sight before half-time. Watkins almost latched on to a hanging Lucas Digne cross. Everton finally registered their first shot on target into nine minutes of first-half added time when Arnaut Danjuma, who replaced Calvert-Lewin, got a shot away after latching on to a neat reverse pass by full-back Nathan Patterson.
The Everton support were restless and vocalised their feelings, as did the scattered few that were still left at full time. Another nine added minutes followed the end of the second half and Everton could be forgiven for wanting the pain to end. Lewis Dobbin, who entered at the break in place of Gueye, showed an initial spark but ran out of road down the left flank and from there a pale performance continued.
Digne’s quick-thinking was the catalyst for Villa’s third. The former Everton left-back threw the ball into a huge hole in the visitors’ 18-yard box and by the time the defence cottoned on Keane inadvertently helped the ball into the path of Bailey, who stroked his shot through the legs of Pickford and in. Pickford covered his face and Dyche combed his hand over his head. The ball rippled the net while the stadium announcer was still reading aloud the name of Neal Maupay, the Everton substitute who at least tested Martínez with a volley at a corner approaching the hour but is now 29 appearances without a goal.
Maupay replaced Alex Iwobi, who pulled up after stretching to reach an Amadou Onana pass. As Iwobi hobbled down the tunnel, it felt almost cruel that Youri Tielemans, Philippe Coutinho and Diego Carlos limbered up on the touchline. A penny for Dyche’s thoughts and all that. Coutinho was forced off in second-half stoppage time but the damage had already long since been inflicted. – Guardian
