Everton v Aston Villa - e-Football Review

Article by e-Everton Correspondent Kenneth Jarvis

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This game couldn't come soon enough for Everton. Losing 4-0 to anyone is depressing but losing that score to Liverpool makes you damn near suicidal. Aston Villa were a team that Everton have not beat in the league since 2006 so this was by no means going to be an easy fixture.

In a near sell-out at Goodison Park it was intriguing to think what the atmosphere would be like after Tuesday. In truth, the first half was very quiet, even before Aston Villa got their goal. Aston Villa only recorded one shot on target in the whole game but it was enough to give them the lead after a counter attack enabled Leandro Bacuna to find the gap to put the ball through the legs of Tim Howard after 34 minutes. Everton rarely threatened in the first half and seemed scared to attack as Goodison got more and more frustrated. Half-time came to a chorus of grumbles as the prospect of two Premier League defeats in the same week loomed.

Steven Pienaar came on for the second half in a surprise swap with Ross Barkley, in what I first presumed to be injury reasons, Martinez explained it was a tactical decision, and it worked perfectly. In the first half Leon Osman was playing on the left side of the attacking midfield three with not much joy. Leighton Baines was not able to get forward as he had no-one to link with and this led Everton's play to be slow and laborious. The introduction of Pienaar changed all that. Their partnership has long been a source of attacking threat for Everton and it was at it's best in the second half with Baines or Pienaar getting inside many times to make dangerous crosses.

It was on the 70th minute when Martinez, and I'm not biased or bitter in saying, made a substitution that David Moyes would have never made. Steven Naismith (forward) came on for John Stones (right back) at the break Martinez had a lengthy chat with McCarthy about his role for the rest of the game. This role turned out to be a kind of wing back position but McCarthy had the energy to cover everything from right back, central midfield and right wing. This also enabled Naismith to go upfront which in turn allowed Kevin Mirallas to get more involved in Everton's play. These changes enabled Everton to attack with even more numbers.

Everton fans aren't fickle when it comes to their loyalty to the club and at the start of the second half Goodison was loud in trying to get a response from it's players. It took a while but in the 74th minute Pienaar was able to put through Steven Naismith to poke home past Guzan for his 3rd goal in 3 games and he will now surely start against Tottenham next Sunday.

Goodison Park was loud and rocking at this point and it felt like a winner was on the way. Everton were all over Aston Villa after the first goal and the said Baines and Pienaar partnership was ripping Villa's defence apart. But it was a free-kick around 25 yards out that gave Everton fans hope. Kevin Mirallas had a quite game up to that point. He was deployed in the striker position until Naismith came on and in all honesty it didn't really work, but with the Injuries to Lukaku and Traore it was worth seeing if it would bear fruit. Mirallas stepped up and curled in a wonderful free-kick in the top corner to give Everton a fantastic comeback win.

There were a few more positives for Everton in this match Distin was back and played the full 90 minutes and Coleman was able to make the bench. With more playing time for Pienaar and McGeady along with the iminent return of Deulofeu, Everton will be looking in much better shape for the games to come. McGeady made his home debut for Everton and, for me, it was a positive one. With no target in the middle and no-one to link up with he had little options at time but still looked an attacking threat.


Martinez ended his brilliant tactical display by bringing Tony Hibbert on for Aiden McGeady to see out the win. Everton were completly dominant throughout the whole match apart from one Aston Villa counter attack and they deserved the win. The Liverpool match showed how unimportant possession can be (61% in that match) but Everton's 71% in this match actually does tell the tale. Another big match is around the corner, and if Everton get a win at White Hart Lane on Sunday the 9th, Everton fans really will start believing again.

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