16th July 2020
By Adam Holt
EVERTON 1 (WALCOTT '87)
ASTON VILLA 1 (KONSA '72)
First the line-ups...
Everton:
GK: Pickford
RB: Coleman
CB: Keane
CB: Holgate
LB: Digne
LM: Bernard
CM: Gomes
CM: Davies
RM: Iwobi
ST: Richarlison
ST: Calvert-Lewin
Subs: Baines, Sigurdsson, Walcott, Sidibe, Stekelenberg (GK), Kean, Virginia, Branthwaite & Gordon.
Aston Villa:
GK: Reina
RB: Elmohamady
CB: Konsa
CB: Mings
LB: Targett
CM: McGinn
CM: Luiz
CM: Hourihane
RW: Trezeguet
LW: Grealish
ST: Samatta
Subs: Lansbury, Nakamba, El Ghazi, Jota, Guilbert, Nyland (GK), Vassilev, Davis & Kesler Hayden.
Well, that was immensely disappointing... in a game that Villa needed to win they could only get a point from Goodison Park to give themselves just a small glimmer of hope for survival. But with chances for Premier League survival wearing ever thinner, a win against the Toffees would have given Villa real hope of survival to bring them within a point of safety with two matches remaining - however, with this point the gap to safety narrows to three points, with a win over Arsenal at Villa Park now seemingly a must if Villa want to retain their Premier League status and all other results going in the Villa's favour. Villa will be closely watching the events that unfold between Watford and West Ham at the London Stadium on Friday night.
The first half of this tight contest at Goodison Park was tightly contested with chances coming at a premium with possibly the best chance of the first half coming in the first ten minutes from Calvert-Lewin, who's overhead kick went over the crossbar. Neither team managed to get a shot on target throughout the entire first half. Everton possibly can claim to have edged the first period, with the Toffees edging possession and efforts on goal, but neither team played with enough intensity in the first half to be deserving of a lead at half time. Something had to change in the second half. And it did.
The second half in the beginning was similar to the first with somewhat of a lack of intensity, but both teams had more ambition going forward with more chances being created, be it most of them being half chances. This was until Villa won a free kick near the edge of the Everton penalty area, when Conor Hourihane put a wonderful fizzing ball into the box meeting the stretched out leg of Ezri Konsa and so the Villans got the opening goal of the contest, a highly important goal that would have brought Villa within a point of safety. It was then Anwar El Ghazi who could have also been the hero of the match for the Villa, alas the Dutchman missed a golden opportunity to double Villa's lead. This proved very costly indeed. Villa went into the final ten minutes of the half, looking like they were going to secure perhaps the most important three points of the season - alas, Villa's inability to keep a clean sheet away from home, and in general, came back to bite them, with Theo Walcott managing to score a powerful header in the final minutes of the game, with goalscorer Konsa despairing as he was unable to clear Walcott's effort off the line.
There went Villa's lead, with full time providing only a point for each team. This was a massive opportunity which was unfortunately wasted. Is Villa's survival bid over? No, but the window is rapidly closing, and if results do not go the Villa's way in the next couple of weeks, Villa's swift return to the Championship may be confirmed.
The first half of this tight contest at Goodison Park was tightly contested with chances coming at a premium with possibly the best chance of the first half coming in the first ten minutes from Calvert-Lewin, who's overhead kick went over the crossbar. Neither team managed to get a shot on target throughout the entire first half. Everton possibly can claim to have edged the first period, with the Toffees edging possession and efforts on goal, but neither team played with enough intensity in the first half to be deserving of a lead at half time. Something had to change in the second half. And it did.
The second half in the beginning was similar to the first with somewhat of a lack of intensity, but both teams had more ambition going forward with more chances being created, be it most of them being half chances. This was until Villa won a free kick near the edge of the Everton penalty area, when Conor Hourihane put a wonderful fizzing ball into the box meeting the stretched out leg of Ezri Konsa and so the Villans got the opening goal of the contest, a highly important goal that would have brought Villa within a point of safety. It was then Anwar El Ghazi who could have also been the hero of the match for the Villa, alas the Dutchman missed a golden opportunity to double Villa's lead. This proved very costly indeed. Villa went into the final ten minutes of the half, looking like they were going to secure perhaps the most important three points of the season - alas, Villa's inability to keep a clean sheet away from home, and in general, came back to bite them, with Theo Walcott managing to score a powerful header in the final minutes of the game, with goalscorer Konsa despairing as he was unable to clear Walcott's effort off the line.
There went Villa's lead, with full time providing only a point for each team. This was a massive opportunity which was unfortunately wasted. Is Villa's survival bid over? No, but the window is rapidly closing, and if results do not go the Villa's way in the next couple of weeks, Villa's swift return to the Championship may be confirmed.
My man of the match: Ezri Konsa & Douglas Luiz. I know I have picked two players here, but both have a claim. Konsa got the all important goal, whilst Luiz was once again Villa's midfield maestro, with the Brazilian's excellent post restart form continuing.
One last thing...
As mentioned already, Aston Villa's chances of survival is becoming ever more unlikely, with only two games remaining, against Arsenal and a potential final day, all or nothing, showdown against West Ham United. Optimism should still exist in the Villa fan base, as, in my opinion, until its mathematically impossible, belief of survival still needs to be in the conversation until the end and three points still separates four football clubs, so both outcomes are still very much possible, but Villa's fate is almost entirely in the hands of others. We await the result of the relegation six pointer on Friday night.