Objects thrown at Aston Villa players, prolonged protests against the board after the final whistle and the sight of Steven Gerrard thoroughly enjoying himself at Goodison Park once again. If Everton believed the presence of a popular figure in the dugout and an open letter from Farhad Moshiri could airbrush over fundamental problems at the club, events on and off the pitch told them otherwise.
Duncan Ferguson re-energised Everton as expected and received the fiercely committed display he had demanded. His connection with the fanbase even extended to putting money behind the bars of the Winslow hotel and the Brick, two Evertonian boozers near Goodison Park, to buy regulars a drink before kick-off. But the caretaker-manager was unable to deliver what he and the crowd craved most of all. A fifth home defeat of the season left Everton with 19 points from 20 games, their lowest tally at this stage of a season since 1997-98 when the club avoided relegation on the final day under Howard Kendall.
Several hundred fans staged a sit-in protest that lasted for more than an hour after the game and called for the departures of the chairman, Bill Kenwright, plus the board. The presence in the directors’ box of Kia Joorabchian, an agent close to Everton’s majority shareholder, suggested an appetite to change how the club are run is not shared by those at the very top.
The best player on the pitch, Emiliano Buendía, scored the only goal of a fractious game marred by Villa players being struck by a plastic bottle in the celebrations that followed the Argentina midfielder’s decisive header. A supporter was arrested by Merseyside police and investigations are continuing.
Gerrard’s side were the most creative before the break and repelled Everton’s direct siege after it. Ferguson’s team selection reflected his thoughts on the brief and divisive era of Rafael Benítez. Séamus Coleman, Michael Keane and Allan dropped to the bench while new full-backs Vitalii Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson, signed for a combined initial cost of £29m at the start of the window, did not make the match-day squad at all. Yerry Mina was named captain on his first start since 6 December.
Given the Scot’s demand for greater aggression and a pumped-up Goodison crowd it was no surprise that a scrap unfolded from the outset. Abdoulaye Doucouré tearing apart Jacob Ramsey’s shirt was a neat metaphor for the early exchanges.It was a contest full of South American needle, not South American flair, although Buendía shone amid the rough throughout. Philippe Coutinho was fairly anonymous on his first Villa start but would play a role in the decisive breakthrough in first-half stoppage time.
A Villa breakthrough would have the dual effect of lessening Goodison’s intensity as well as preying on Everton’s vulnerable confidence. Jordan Pickford was proving a stubborn obstacle, however. The Everton keeper saved superbly with his leg to deny Ollie Watkins, even if the Villa striker was offside when heading Buendía’s cross towards the bottom corner, and tipped over a Coutinho header after a Douglas Luiz free-kick. The resulting corner had dire repercussions for Everton on and off the pitch.
Lucas Digne, sold to Villa following a falling-out with Benítez just days before his adversary was sacked, was roundly booed on his swift return to Goodison. Had Benítez not been dismissed his reception might have been different. Digne responded with his feet, delivering an inswinging corner to the near post where the completely unmarked Buendía glanced a superb header over Pickford and Andros Townsend into the far corner.
While Everton players argued over conceding yet another set-piece goal Villa’s celebrated in front of the Bullens Road stand. A seemingly full bottle of Lucozade was thrown from the Everton crowd, who had already lowered the tone with a desperate old song about Gerrard, and both Digne and Matty Cash were struck on the head.
On the pitch, Everton improved in the second half but the visitors showed they are becoming a team of substance under Gerrard.
Ferguson wasted little time in making substitutions, introducing Anthony Gordon and Allan, and the former created a glorious chance for Dominic Calvert-Lewin with a first-time cross along the face of the Villa goal. Calvert-Lewin, rusty after four months out injured, turned the ball high over Emiliano Martínez’s goal at full stretch.
Tyrone Mings headed off the line from Ben Godfrey, Mina sent a looping header just wide and Demarai Gray fired wildly over, all from Gordon corners as Everton applied concerted pressure in the second half. But to no avail. The two clubs continue to head in opposite directions.
