Aston Villa 2-1 Everton: Premier League – as it happened

Andy Hunter was at Villa Park, and his verdict is in. Thanks for reading this MBM!

Frank Lampard speaks to BT. “We should have got the draw at the end of the game. We had two or three really good chances. We were set defensively and organised, I didn’t think they gave us huge problems, we gave the ball away in a couple of transitions and they scored two goals. That’s the reality of Premier League football, you can’t make those mistakes and we were punished. But the spirit was good. In two games now, we’ve had an injury and had to make a sub in the first half. It’s not the factor, but it’s a factor.”

Steven Gerrard talks to BT. “We had large pockets of control, we could have scored a couple more goals. We conceded a poor goal and there was always going to be nervousness, but that was a big test of our character and resilience, and we stood firm. I thought we deserved our win. Emi’s one-two for the goal was pure quality. We’re hoping Coutinho’s injury is cramp, but it was always the plan to bring Buendia’s injury. He’s really pushing to start at the moment. He had a little setback in pre-season, but was certainly winning the race to be a starter before that set-back.”

Is it worth showing the table yet? Two games in, probably not. But here it is anyway. Not particularly great reading for Everton, but those wild last few minutes – and the eye-catching arrival of Amadou Onana – should give them succour going forward. Villa meanwhile will be relieved to get their points column clicking over, and delighted with the non-stop creativity of Emi Buendia.

Villa Park explodes with relief more than anything, but joy kicks in soon enough, as the home fans celebrate their first win of the season. “I can’t hear a thing you’re saying, the atmosphere’s amazing!” smiles Danny Ings as he’s collared on the pitch by BT’s Des Kelly. “It was difficult. After last week’s performance, there was always going to be edgy moments. Everton are a physical side and caused us a few problems, but that’s how you grind it out and win ugly. Overall we deserved the win. Credit to everyone at the back for digging in and staying strong. That’s what this league is all about. To get the win is huge, and hopefully we can build on it.”

FULL TIME: Aston Villa 2-1 Everton

90 min +8: Young is booked for taking his sweet time over a throw.

90 min +7: Martinez claims the corner, but Everton soon come again. Gordon shoots from the edge of the box. Blocked. He shoots from a tighter angle on the left. Claimed by Martinez. What a climax to this match!

90 min +6: Villa are nearly undone by a simple long ball. Rondon flicks it on. Alli tries to latch onto the ball in the box. The ball breaks to Onana, who nearly grabs a sensational equaliser from six yards, but just as he prepares to poke home, Chambers extends a leg to make a crucial block! Corner.

90 min +5: Carlos finally limps off, and Chambers comes on. Meanwhile on BT Sport, co-commentator Lucy Ward names Jacob Ramsey as her player of the match.

90 min +4: Well, although the BT caption has Carlos departing, he’s still on the field of play getting treatment. Chambers waits patiently on the touchline.

90 min +3: The game finally pauses, and Cash, Ramsey and Carlos make way for Young, Konsa and Chambers.

90 min +2: Cash is off the pitch, defeated by cramp. Carlos is down, too. Steven Gerrard is livid, as he’s not been able to make his substitutions yet.

90 min +1: There will be five added minutes. What an end to this match, though! Can we have another 55?

90 min: Everton come so close to an equaliser! Gordon heads the ball down the inside-left channel and chases after it himself. He enters the Villa box and shoots. Martinez parries, but the ball rebounds towards Rondon, who from six yards … can’t get a shot away, because Mings comes across to make an excellent block!

89 min: Well this has escalated quickly! Everton win a corner that’s cleared well. Villa scamper up the other end, Bailey slipping Watkins into the Everton box on the left. Watkins tries to slot past Pickford, but the keeper blocks magnificently. From the resulting corner, Digne sends a diagonal screamer inches wide of the right-hand stick.

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Everton (Digne 87 og)

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-0 Everton (Buendia 86)

84 min: Martinez is fine to continue, and the game restarts.

83 min: Martinez had clattered into a couple of his team-mates, and is down getting some treatment as a result. Some wily clock management, I’ll be bound.

82 min: Holgate slips a ball down the inside-left channel and nearly finds the newly arrived Alli. Mings comes across and agriculturally blooters the ball out for a corner. Not sure the concession of a corner was totally necessary, but Martinez comes off his line to claim it confidently.

81 min: Everton make a double change: Coady and Gray are replaced by Alli and the debutant Onana.

80 min: Buendia’s delivery is no good.

79 min: Ramsey drives with great passion down the left. He reaches the byline and pulls back for Watkins, who shoots from a tight angle at the edge of the six-yard box, and earns a corner.

77 min: Ings, who has just been booked for tugging back Gray, is replaced by Bailey.

76 min: Villa are pressing Everton back now, and Buendia is seeing an awful lot of the ball.

74 min: Patterson blocks again, this time from Ings. Everton only half clear. Digne skitters down the left and cuts back for Buendia, who shoots into the ground, the ball caroming off Coady and looping over Pickford and towards the top right. Mykolenko clears brilliantly off the line. That ball was moving all over the shop!

73 min: Tarkowski’s poor header back towards Pickford nearly lets in Ings. Holgate nicks the ball out for a corner just before the striker can shoot. From the resulting set piece, Carlos takes a whack. Patterson bravely blocks.

71 min: … and we’re back.

69 min: … and that’s drinks.

68 min: Iwobi curls a low pass infield from a deep position on the left. The ball nearly finds Gray in acres in the middle, on the edge of the Villa box. Fortunately for the hosts, the ball is just too far in front of Gray, and sails through to Martinez.

67 min: Some pinball in the Everton box. Buendia takes the ball off the toe of Ings, denying both players a chance of scoring from ten yards.

66 min: Buendia slips Ings into space down the inside-right channel. Ings cuts back in hope of finding Watkins, but Holgate hacks clear.

64 min: Everton make their second change, replacing McNeil with Rondon.

62 min: Coady shakes his head sadly … but just as all looks lost, he gets back up and will battle on.

61 min: Buendia’s first act is to tee up McGinn, who sends a power curler towards the top left. Coady bravely gets his head in the way to block, but falls to the ground clutching his left leg. This doesn’t look too clever either.

60 min: It’s not quite like for like, but near enough: Buendia comes on for the limping Coutinho.

58 min: Coutinho is down. Looks like a possible muscle issue, if the way he’s grimacing and holding his right thigh is anything to go by, writes Dr Murray, resident quack.

56 min: Ramsey swans past Gordon down the left, a lovely smooth spin that sees him romp into the Everton box. But he dribbles one step too far, neither crossing nor shooting, and is dispossessed. Villa come again, Cash swinging one in from the other flank. Pickford claims easily as Ings hovers. We’re in proper Next Goal Huge territory here.

54 min: Villa faff about while defending a corner yet again. The ball drops to Patterson on the edge of the box. His creamed shot is blocked by Cash’s brave lunge. Everton come again, Gray shooting towards the top left. Martinez does extremely well to parry Everton’s first shot on target. The hosts finally clear their lines. Much better from Everton.

52 min: Gordon turns on the jets down the left and nearly beats Cash. Just the corner, but you can sense the tension whenever Villa have to defend one of these.

50 min: Villa predictably struggle to clear the set piece. McNeil flicks a shot wide left from ten yards.”I would love to get into a snappy word battle with those who besmirch my Toffees but since our relegation battle has already started there isn’t much I can say, is there?” writes Mary Waltz in an email headed “How does one fight with no arms?”

49 min: Patterson takes on Digne down the right and wins. A sublime spin and dribble. He’s hauled down for his trouble, and the Villa defender goes into the boo. A free kick just to the side of the Villa box, near the byline.

48 min: Gray flicks a header down the left to cleverly send Mykolenko into space. Mykolenko’s speculative first-time shot-cum-cross is cleared, and Villa break up the other end, Watkins haring down the right and hoping to find Ramsey with a cutback. Davies does very well to spot the danger and intercept.

46 min: Iwobi miscontrols then brings down McGinn as he prepares to scoot towards the Everton box. He’s very fortunate not to go into the book, but it’s a foul, and from the free kick, McGinn latches onto a dropping ball and blazes over the bar. A quick start to the second half by Villa, just like the first.

Villa get the second half underway. No half-time changes.

Half-time entertainment … and Barça are providing plenty of entertainment all right. Here’s Sid Lowe on the ever-evolving fiasco at Camp Nou. Enjoy, enjoy.

HALF TIME: Aston Villa 1-0 Everton

45 min +2: Villa are all over the place in defending the corner. Davies swishes through thin air with an acrobatic lunge. A game of pinball ensues. Villa finally clear. VAR checks for a potential handball against Carlos, but nothing doing.

45 min +1: The first of three added minutes nearly leads to an Everton equaliser. Iwobi sends a speculative cross in from the left. Mings should clear, but misses his header. The ball drops to Gray, six yards out, but before he can poke home, Kamara arrives to deny him and concede a corner. Brilliant challenge.

45 min: From the left, Digne whips a dangerous ball through the Everton six-yard box. Fortunately for the visitors, there’s nobody in claret anywhere near to trundle home.

43 min: Now Davies picks up a booking for a late clip on Watkins. Everton aren’t exactly on the ropes, but they could do with hearing the half-time whistle nonetheless.

41 min: Davies, not yet up to speed, is muscled off the ball by Coutinho. Just leave that hanging there. “Honourable mention to the death of the Cazoo Classico (2020-22),” chin-chins Ciarán Brennan. “While I do like the Everton kit, booourns to the betting sponsor.”

39 min: Cash creams a pass down the right for Watkins, who attempts to power his way into the box but can’t get past Coady. Everton’s new defender shepherds the ball back to Pickford. More cheers from the Everton support, who seem to have taken to their new signing.

37 min: That was a six-minute triple whammy for Everton: disallowed goal for, goal against, injury to key midfielder. They’ve understandably lost a bit of belief as a result. Villa are dominating possession.