Andy Hunter was at Goodison Park, and his verdict is in. Off you click! Thanks for reading this MBM.
Everton have released a statement regarding the bottle-throwing incident.
Police have arrested a supporter at Goodison Park for throwing a missile onto the pitch during today’s Premier League match against Aston Villa.
Everton security staff and Merseyside Police identified the supporter using CCTV footage.
Several objects were thrown towards the pitch following Aston Villa’s goal at the end of the first half, with one missile appearing to strike two opposition players.
Investigations in conjunction with the police are ongoing, and the Club will issue bans to any fans identified throwing objects.
Steven Gerrard’s turn. “It’s a big win for us. Really important, especially for the players. It was a different style of win, a case of us having to roll our sleeves up, stand up and be counted, really put our bodies on the line. It’s difficult to rehearse what came our way in the second half. It was direct, it was coming regular, and we had to fight and compete. Every single person stood up to it. There’s different ways to win, but one thing’s certain, if you don’t compete, especially away at Goodison, you’ll get found out. We expected Duncan to throw more petrol on the fire ... but we played big today. That was about grit and steel.”
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Duncan Ferguson talks to BT. “First half we were a wee bit off it, maybe a wee bit of stage-fright. But I thought the second half, the boys gave everything. We just needed that wee but of quality in the final third. The effort was there, I couldn’t fault them in any shape or form. I tried my best, we made a few changes. I don’t think the fans will be complaining about the team’s effort today, the second half particularly we gave it a right good go. I’ll carry on until the new manager comes in. That’s it.” As for the bottle-throwing incident: “The punters shouldn’t be doing that.”
The protest against Bill Kenwright and the Everton board continues apace. A few hundred fans have stayed behind to make sure the BT Sport viewers get the message. Other banners include SACK THE BOARD and THE FANS EXPECT THE BEST.
That result sends Villa into the top half of the Premier League table, where they’ll stay tonight unless Southampton shock Manchester City this evening. Everton remain five points above the relegation places. Villa fought hard for their win, with Everton vastly improved in the second half. The home fans applauded their team’s efforts, and they’re obviously onside with the caretaker manager, but chairman Bill Kenwright isn’t feeling the love, and plenty of fans stay behind to tell him to do one. They’re away to Newcastle next, to play a match that could shape the rest of their season.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 22 | 41 | 56 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 21 | 37 | 45 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 23 | 28 | 44 |
| 4 | West Ham | 22 | 11 | 37 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 19 | 4 | 36 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 20 | 8 | 35 |
| 7 | Man Utd | 21 | 5 | 35 |
| 8 | Wolverhampton | 20 | 2 | 31 |
| 9 | Brighton | 21 | 0 | 29 |
| 10 | Aston Villa | 21 | -4 | 26 |
| 11 | Leicester | 19 | -3 | 25 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 21 | -1 | 24 |
| 13 | Southampton | 21 | -8 | 24 |
| 14 | Brentford | 22 | -11 | 23 |
| 15 | Leeds | 20 | -15 | 22 |
| 16 | Everton | 20 | -11 | 19 |
| 17 | Norwich | 22 | -32 | 16 |
| 18 | Watford | 20 | -17 | 14 |
| 19 | Newcastle | 20 | -23 | 12 |
| 20 | Burnley | 17 | -11 | 11 |
FULL TIME: Everton 0-1 Aston Villa
Nope. Gordon hits long. Mina heads the ball back across the face of goal, but nobody in blue can meet it. There’s been a foul anyway, and the whistle goes for full time. Emi Buendia’s goal earns Villa all three points, and Everton continue to look over their shoulder towards the relegation zone. Steven Gerrard walks off glowing with contentment.
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90 min +5: Gordon sashays down the right and earns a corner. Up comes Pickford. Can Everton save themselves?
90 min +4: Everton can’t get the ball upfield. Can they launch one last Hail Mary?
90 min +3: Ings strolls down the right and takes the ball to the corner. Ings is then booked for fouling Holgate.
90 min +2: On BT Sport, co-commentator Lucy Ward names Matty Cash as her man of the match.
90 min +1: Buendia, four minutes from being anointed the match-winner, is replaced by Hause.
90 min: ... but there’s still plenty of time for Everton. Five more minutes at least.
89 min: Mings is down now, having taken a whack by Calvert-Lewin. A clock-management masterclass from Villa right now. The Dallas Cowboys should take notes.
88 min: Martinez again with the slow goal kick. He’s really testing the Goodison crowd’s patience, but crucially not the referee. A second yellow isn’t beyond the realms if he tries this on again, though.
86 min: Gordon’s low free kick, aimed for the bottom left, takes a deflection on the way through a crowded box, but Martinez snaffles it anyway.
85 min: Mings is the latest player to go into the book, clearing Richarlison with one great leap, having placed both hands on top of the striker’s head. A free kick just to the left of the D. Everton have been severely stress-testing this Villa defence in the second half. Will it finally crack?
83 min: Nothing comes of the free kick when it’s eventually taken. Godfrey then comes sliding in hysterically on Luiz, and is booked as a result. For a second, it looks as though Mary Waltz’s brawl is about to kick off, with a few players going nose to nose, Richarlison naturally in the middle of it all. But the referee calms everyone down quickly enough.
82 min: Allan is booked after trying to take a quick free kick, then giving the referee what for when play is pulled back.
81 min: Martinez takes time over a free kick. He’s treading a fine line between savvy clock management and preposterous dismissal.
79 min: Watkins is replaced by Ings, who as a former Liverpool player arrives to a light smattering of reasoned criticism.
77 min: A long throw into the Villa box forces yet another corner. Villa half clear it. The ball falls to Gray, alone on the edge of the box. He nearly clears the stand behind the goal with his volley. Meanwhile here’s Ian Copestake channelling his inner Irvine Welsh: “Mary Waltz’s 63rd-minute observation prompted an image of Richarlison as Begbie announcing that ‘some wee lassie got hurt’.”
75 min: Cash is booked for cynically clipping Richarlison as the Everton attacker makes off down the left. Gordon takes the resulting free kick, but it’s poorly delivered and easily cleared.
74 min: Coutinho’s race is run. He’s replaced by Chukwuemeka.
73 min: Martinez punches clear from the middle of a crowded box. Everton come back at Villa. Allan curls in from a deep position on the right. Mina rises highest, and should score, eight yards out, but sends his header wide left. Everton are really rapping on the door now.
72 min: The 6ft 5in Onyango wins a header in the Villa box and forces another Everton corner. This one will come in from the left. Gordon to take.
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71 min: Digne is crudely checked by his former pal Kenny out on the left. Kenny has the good grace to apologise to his erstwhile team-mate. A free kick. Villa line up on the edge of the box. Luiz’s delivery is no good, and the ball’s soon back at the feet of Martinez, albeit as a result of a haywire backpass by McGinn that nearly catches the wandering keeper out.
69 min: Martinez is booked for taking his sweet time over the restart. The Goodison faithful respond with plenty of pantomime yelling, plus some Ofcom-baiting effing and jeffing.
68 min: Richarlison wins a corner out on the left. The set piece is swung into the mixer. Mina rises on the penalty spot and guides a header inches wide of the top-left corner. Everton are pressing hard for an equaliser.
66 min: Gordon is causing Villa some problems down the right. He whips a sensational low ball in from the wing. Calvert-Lewin should score, six yards out, but slides in and shins wide and high. The presence of the nearby Mings might have put him off.
65 min: The 18-year-old midfielder Tyler Onyango comes on for Doucoure.
63 min: A couple of big challenges get the crowd going even more. Ramsey on Allan. Richarlison on Buendia. Both fully legal, both felt by the recipient. “The crowd vibe at Goodison resembles the feel at a crowded bar before a brawl goes off,” observes Evertonian Mary Waltz.
61 min: The corner from the left is hit long. Calvert-Lewin heads back across goal for Godfrey, who steers a header goalwards. Mings clears off the line. The volume in Goodison is ratcheted up a few notches, the home heroes finally baring their teeth.
60 min: Everton blooter long and open Villa up. That simple. Richarlison strides into the box. He slams a shot from an angle on the left. Cash comes across to block out for a corner. That’s wonderful last-ditch defending.
59 min: Coutinho wedges over the wall, hoping for the ball to drop into the top-let corner. It doesn’t. Over the bar it goes.
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58 min: Ramsey makes like Gray up the other end, driving down the inside-left channel and drawing a foul from either Gordon or Mina, who clatter him to the floor in a pincer movement. The referee decides it’s Mina’s fault, and he goes into the book. Free kick, just to the left of the Everton D. Coutinho’s eyes light up.
57 min: Gordon is immediately in the thick of it. Gray dribbles hard down the inside-right channel and into the Villa box. His shot-cum-cross is blocked but pings wide right for Gordon, who curls in dangerously. Richarlison flashes a header over the bar from 12 yards. Much better from Everton.
56 min: Everton make a second change, replacing Townsend with Gordon. Both are popular players; both receive warm applause.
54 min: McGinn very nearly releases Buendia into the Everton box with a sliderule pass down the left channel, but Everton close ranks just in time.
52 min: The first change of the afternoon, and it’s Everton who blink first. Allan comes on for Gomes.
50 min: Calvert-Lewin is booked for levering an elbow into Konsa’s face during an aerial battle. Penny for the thoughts of a certain Duncan Ferguson, who as a member of the old school may have considered the decision somewhat harsh.
49 min: Gray’s free kick is deflected out for a corner, from which Calvert-Lewin heads harmlessly into the stand. Better from Everton, though, who didn’t threaten the Villa goal at all during the first half.
47 min: Mings clatters Calvert-Lewin under a high ball, and this is a free kick in a dangerous position, just to the left of the Villa D. Meanwhile, as the players sort themselves out, a tannoy announcement tells the fans to sort themselves out. Anyone found throwing gear onto the pitch will have their collar felt and receive a stadium ban.
46 min: Watkins dribbles down the right and makes it all the way to the byline. He cuts back in the hope of setting up either Coutinho or Buendia for a tap-in, but manages to find neither. What an opportunity!
Everton get the second half underway. No changes.
Half-time entertainment. For those who missed it last night, this started slowly but turned out to be quite the event.
HALF TIME: Everton 0-1 Aston Villa
That’s the last act of the half ... although during the goal celebrations, some bampot in the crowd launched a bottle of a popular energy drink at the cavorting Villa players, hitting both Cash and Digne upside the head. Poor form.
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GOAL! Everton 0-1 Aston Villa (Buendia 45+3)
The corner’s flashed from the right to the near post. Buendia, on the corner of the six-yard box, rises and eyebrows a header across Pickford and into the top left! Pickford got fingers to it, but that only served to ensure Townsend had no chance whatsoever to clear off the line.
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45 min +2: Gomes is booked for hauling back Watkins as he romps down the left. The free kick finds Mings at the far post. He heads back across for Coutinho, whose reaction header is tipped over the bar by the suddenly busy Pickford. Corner.
45 min: Villa should be leading, but they’ve been denied by a stunning Pickford save. Villa triangulate down the left. Buendia dinks into the centre. Watkins, six yards out and clear, heads down towards the bottom left. Pickford, star jumping, sticks his right leg out and kicks clear. What reactions! Turns out Watkins was a mile offside anyway, but Pickford wasn’t to know that, and thoroughly deserves the standing ovation he receives. A sweet smile, a sweet moment. What a save!
43 min: Mings shanks a simple pass out of play for a corner. He’ll deserve a clip around the ear if Everton take the lead here. Thankfully for the Villa defender, Watkins bangs a header clear.
42 min: This match is now being played at 202 miles per hour. Passes aren’t sticking.
40 min: Richarlison gets involved in a touchline tussle with Cash, and earns himself a stern talking-to from the ref. Might be worth keeping an eye on the occasionally steam-powered striker.
38 min: Another long pass down the middle by Villa, and Watkins traps and turns just inside the box. Pickford races out and spreads himself. Watkins prods past him, but wide right of goal. The striker goes over the keeper and claims a penalty - Pickford was certainly rushing out in a manic fashion - but both referee and VAR conclude that Watkins instigated the contact, and it’s just a goal kick.
36 min: Mina deals with a long Villa pass by heading the ball over the out-rushing Pickford. Fortunately he doesn’t get too much on it, and the keeper is able to spin around and claim. Everton toying with farce.
35 min: A cross comes into the Everton box from the left. Buendia wins a header that’s deflected wide of the goal for ... a goal kick, as the referee sees it. Buendia smiles wryly.
34 min: The intensity has dropped a little. Richarlison is the sole, busy exception, and he strips Luiz of possession and makes off towards the Villa box, only to be pulled back correctly for clipping his opponent’s ankle.
32 min: Anyway, the tussle is something and nothing, as is the following corner.
31 min: Richarlison tries to do something about that by forcing a corner down the right. The hosts load the box. Goodison awaits. Before the corner can be taken, the referee pulls up Mina and Buendia for a mismatched wrestle. Mina’s about twice Buendia’s size!
30 min: That was a big opportunity. Everton really should be leading ... but goals are hard to come by when you’re slap bang in the middle of a poor run of form.
28 min: Cash burns down the inside right channel, reaches the box, and slips inside for Buendia, who threatens to make space to shoot, but settles for a corner. The set piece is a non event, and suddenly Everton break upfield, Digne losing possession in the centre circle, giving the hosts a two on one! Doucoure just needs to slip Richarlison in, but last man Ramsey positions himself well, panicking Doucoure into clanking a dreadful pass straight through to Martinez, who hacks clear. What a chance that was.
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26 min: Villa have enjoyed the lion’s share of possession so far, but haven’t caused Everton too many problems in the final third. Both managers will be fairly happy with how it’s gone so far, without being totally content.
24 min: McGinn sprays a lovely ball wide right for Watkins, who switches play back to Coutinho down the inside left. Everton are light at the back, and Coutinho makes it into the box. Mina is there, though, and puts a stop to Coutinho’s gallop with a fine block. Mina got Everton out of a world of trouble there.
23 min: Digne is copping a little more flak now. The revenge of the spurned lover.
22 min: Godfrey makes good down the left and earns a corner off Cash. Gomes takes. Mina wins a header by the left-hand edge of the six-yard box but doesn’t get much purchase on it, the ball skimming across the face of goal and away from danger.
21 min: Some head tennis in midfield. This game is being hotly contested, to the point of becoming a little scrappy now.
19 min: Buendia, who had a very good game against Manchester United the other week, looks in the mood again. He escapes from a tight spot in the centre circle and drives down the middle, only to drag a poor shot wide left.
18 min: Ramsey looks to be clipped by Doucoure, just outside the Everton box, but he’s not getting the free kick. Strange decision. Everton break. Gray takes on Cash in a footrace down the left. For a second, it looks as though he’ll burst clear into the box, but a heavy touch does for him, and he runs the ball out of play for a goal kick.
16 min: ... so having said that, a lull. Many apologies.
14 min: Doucoure very nearly frees Calvert-Lewin down the inside-right channel, but the pass is a little bit too strong and the ball flies through to Martinez. This is a really entertaining fast-paced affair.
13 min: Bundeia finds a little pocket of space, 30 yards out, and sends a forensic shot towards the bottom left. Pickford gets down well to parry with a strong hand.
12 min: Ramsey ushers a long ball out for a throw. Doucoure, sliding in, attempting to keep it in play, skids hysterically off the pitch. He grabs Ramsey’s shirt as he flies by, and rips it in two. Ramsey has to take a time out to change his kit. He’s back on soon enough, albeit with no number on his shirt.
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10 min: Gomes crosses deep from the left. Calvert-Lewin heads down, hoping to tee up Richarlison. Mings reads the danger and intercepts just in time. This game is being played at 101 miles per hour.
8 min: Villa take their time considering their options. It’s a long way out. Eventually Luiz has a crack ... and he sends a decent curler in the direction of the top left. The ball only just clears the bar, and Pickford was diving across with great concern.
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6 min: Buendia bustles down the middle of the park and very nearly fashions room to shoot from distance. He’s dragged back by Richarlison, so this will be a free kick in a central position, 30 yards out.
4 min: Digne takes up possession and receives a few murmurs, but nothing too forceful. A beloved player at Goodison while an Evertonian.
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2 min: Mings took a little knock on the shin amid the penalty-box mayhem, but he’s good to go. Villa launch it up the other end. Watkins nearly gets on the end of it, but Pickford gathers on the edge of his area ... then slides out of it, and he’s forced to drop the ball from his hands and hack clear with his feet instead. An early sign that Pickford’s in one of his occasional I’ve-had-17-cups-of-coffee-this-morning moods?
1 min: Richarlison signals Everton’s Ferguson-approved up-and-at-’em approach by immediately racing down the left. McGinn barges him over. Gomes swings the free kick into the mixer, and Martinez claims. A fast start by the hosts.
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Villa get the ball rolling ... but only after everyone takes the knee. Applause greets the gesture. There’s no room for racism.
The teams are out! Everton in their royal blue, Villa in their claret. The sirens and tin whistles of Z-Cars ping around the rafters. Overhead, a plane putters by, trailing a banner with the message 22 YEARS OF FAILURE BILL @ TIME2GOBILL. A shot across the bows of erstwhile Coronation Street actor and current Everton chairman Bill Kenwright. As any theatre impresario will already know, everyone’s a critic. Speaking of which, you can’t hear Steven Gerrard receiving his pelters, which he will be, because the atmosphere is already so raucous. We’ll be off in a minute!
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Steven Gerrard talks to BT Sport. “Philippe Coutinho turned up in a better place than we thought, because he hadn’t played much football before he arrived. We’ve done some testing on him, he’s got ten days in his legs in terms of training volume, he had a strong cameo against United, so his training level and performances are screaming at us to go with him from the start. It’ll be highly unlikely he’ll finish the game, but I’m sure he’ll want to push to the end. Lucas Digne’s pedigree and experience will help him cope with the occasion [of returning to Goodison ten days after leaving] and he’s just got to focus on the job we’re asking him to do. He can thank me later for taking all the heat off him!”
Duncan Ferguson gives an interview to BT that registers 11 on the Big Dunc™ometer. “Go for it. Really be aggressive. Show the Everton way. We want the team on the front foot, to press hard. We got really into the players, because the last few months hasn’t been quite good enough, has it. You can make all the changes because the results have not been there. You’ve got to. The form’s not been good enough. I can make the changes, and I don’t think there’s going to be any arguments, is there? It’ll be great to see Steven Gerrard, top player. I’m glad he’s not playing! Carlo Ancelotti called me and wished me all the best.” He also reports that he’s wearing the legendary Howard Kendall’s lucky watch, just as he did during his last brief but successful spell as caretaker manager. All in all, a bravura performance that will have done wonders for the old Goodison feelgood factor.
Everton could certainly do with a spirit-restoring victory today. The famous old club have been a top-flight fixture since 1954, indeed they’ve only spent four seasons out of the First Division or Premier League since the Football League was formed in 1888. They haven’t been sucked into the relegation battle quite yet ... but Norwich’s fine victory last night over Watford doesn’t help matters. The Toffees have games in hand, but they’ll need to start winning one or two of them before that points cushion starts to deflate.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Everton | 19 | -10 | 19 |
| 17 | Norwich | 22 | -32 | 16 |
| 18 | Watford | 20 | -17 | 14 |
| 19 | Newcastle | 20 | -23 | 12 |
| 20 | Burnley | 17 | -11 | 11 |
Everton caretaker Big Dunc™ makes five changes to Rafa’s last starting XI. Out go Seamus Coleman, Vitaliy Mykolenko, Anthony Gordon, Michael Keane and Salomon Rondon; in come Jonjoe Kenny, Mason Holgate, Yerry Mina, Andros Townsend and Richarlison.
Villa boss and local celebrity Stevie G™ makes just two changes to the XI named for the Manchester United comeback. Philippe Coutinho makes his first Premier League start since 2017, while John McGinn returns from suspension. Danny Ings and Morgan Sanson make way.
The teams
Everton: Pickford, Kenny, Mina, Holgate, Godfrey, Townsend, Doucoure, Andre Gomes, Gray, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison.
Subs: Keane, Allan, Begovic, Coleman, Gordon, Gbamin, Rondon, Dobbin, Onyango.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne, McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Ramsey, Buendia, Watkins, Coutinho.
Subs: Olsen, Targett, Sanson, Young, Ings, Kesler, Hause, Chukwuemeka, Iroegbunam.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).
Preamble
In which Everton stand-in boss Duncan Ferguson will receive the sort of ovation reserved for living legends, while Villa manager Steven Gerrard will cop the kind of abuse specially tailored for arch villains. Kick off is at 12.30pm GMT. It’s on!
