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.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | AFC Bournemouth | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Man City | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Newcastle | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | Brighton | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | Leeds | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 2 | -1 | 3 |
| 10 | Brentford | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Fulham | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Leicester | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Liverpool | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Man Utd | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 15 | Wolverhampton | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 16 | Everton | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| 17 | Crystal Palace | 1 | -2 | 0 |
| 18 | Nottm Forest | 1 | -2 | 0 |
| 19 | West Ham | 1 | -2 | 0 |
| 20 | Southampton | 1 | -3 | 0 |
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
It’s all over! Villa hold on! Just! They deserved it over the piece, but Everton nearly snatched a point, and during the final dramatic minutes proved there is life and hope … and in Onana, they’ve got themselves a player.
Updated
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.
Updated
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Everton (Digne 87 og)
Nope! Onana makes up for his mistake, and how! He bursts down the inside-left channel, past Carlos with ease, reaching the byline and whistling a dangerous ball through the six-yard box in the hope of finding Iwobi at the far stick. Digne gets in the way, but such is the excellence of Onana’s cross, he can only clumsily trundle the ball into the bottom corner from a yard out!
Updated
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-0 Everton (Buendia 86)
Bundeia has been excellent since replacing Coutinho, and here’s his reward. Onana ships possession in the centre circle. Buendia dribbles hard down the middle of the park. He finally slips Watkins into the Everton box down the inside-right channel. Watkins unselfishly rolls the ball back across the face of goal to present Buendia for a tap-in. Game over, surely?
Updated
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.
Updated
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.
Updated
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
There’s just enough time for Ramsey to whistle a cross through the Everton box from the left, Coutinho inches away from toe-poking home. And that’s the end of an entertaining first half. Villa have been the better side by far, but their efforts to defend corners are shambolic and therefore an otherwise toothless Everton still have hope.
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.
Updated
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.
35 min: Doucoure limps off, Davies taking his place. “Oh wow, Anthony Gordon’s antics are testing the patience of Everton supporter Mary Waltz,” writes Yash Gupta. “Wait until the Toffees face Spurs and Richarlison is in the line-up.” Ah no, two weeks into the campaign and the regulars are already fighting! Shake hands and play nicely, y’all. It’ll be a long season otherwise.
Updated
33 min: It gets worse for Everton: Doucoure is down, and it doesn’t look as though he’ll be able to continue.
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Everton (Ings 31)
McGinn sends Watkins scampering down the left. Watkins crosses low for Coutinho … but Ings gets in the way, taking the ball away from his team-mate. It looks as though his intervention has blown the chance, but he spins, takes a touch to the left, and blasts a powerful shot into the left-hand portion of the net. A proper old-fashioned belt. What a finish!
Updated
29 min: The presence of Ings forces Mykolenko into the concession of a corner. Everton are not very good at defending these things: since this time last year, they’ve conceded 16 times from them. Patterson clears this one, though.
27 min: The rehydrated players get going again.
25 min: VAR double-checks anyway, but the decision stands. No goal. And that’s drinks!
24 min: One corner leads to another, and from the second, Everton stick the ball in the net! Tarkowski wins a header, and Gordon bundles the loose ball home from a couple of yards. He wheels off in celebration, but the flag goes up for offside.
Updated
22 min: Ramsey is stripped of possession by Gordon, and Everton are suddenly four on three. McNeil strides purposefully towards the Villa box, and thinks about shooting, but instead tries to feed Gray to his left. The pass is woefully overhit, and Gray does well just to keep the ball in play, then wins a corner. From which …
20 min: Villa ping it around, hither and yon, but Everton hold their shape. Eventually Ings gets frustrated and shoves Holgate in the back. The pressure on the visitors is instantly released. Here’s Mary Waltz again: “I love Gordon but Gawd I am so tired of the amateur theatrics shown every week in the PL. The melodrama is straight out of a silent movie bad acting manual. ‘Oh Lord. My face, my face!’”
18 min: McGinn swings a poor cross in from the right. An easy clearance for Tarkowski. The home fans are making some noise now, but all of it is groaning.
16 min: Gordon tries to beat Mings in a footrace down the right. He nearly gets round the big defender, but goes to ground when Mings sticks out an arm and lightly brushes him under the chin. Gordon holds his head, and the referee stops play, but only to check that the player is OK. No foul. Lampard is incensed, but there really wasn’t much in it.
15 min: Everton have done a good job of silencing a previously bouncing Villa Park. To be fair, it’s way too hot for singing and dancing. Everyone wisely conserving their energy.
13 min: Mings sends a long pass down the inside-right channel for Watkins, who takes the ball down neatly, but fails to find Ings in the middle. Villa come again, Cash bursting into the box from the right and falling over, claiming a penalty. Mykolenko had a bit of his shirt, but not much, and he was outside the box anyway. Neither referee nor VAR shows any interest, rightly so.
Updated
11 min: On the touchline, Frank Lampard claps his hands. It’s not clear whether he’s applauding his charges, or geeing them up. Everton have settled a little after a slightly frantic start, though.
9 min: Tarkowski nearly puts Pickford in all sorts of bother with a wildly overhit backpass. Pickford does extremely well to trap the ball, travelling at 101 miles per hour, and clear, despite pressure from the Villa press. Cool and collected.
8 min: Coady puts his foot on the ball and slows things down for Everton. He nearly sends McNeil away with a raking pass. The Everton fans warmly applaud their new centre-back’s first act for the club.
7 min: Everton have hardly had a touch. They get the ball towards Gordon up front, but he’s isolated and quickly ships possession. Mary Waltz has concerns: “Coady should help our back line but who will score for us? We looked lost once we got to the box last week.”
Updated
5 min: Ramsey probes down the left again. He lays off to Digne, who curls in a cross from a tight spot near the corner flag. Holgate again provides sufficient cover to clear.
3 min: Ramsey skitters down the left and nearly breaks into the box. He’s stopped by a well-timed last-ditch challenge by Holgate. Villa have flown out of the gate.
2 min: McGinn swings the corner towards the far stick. Carlos rises highest and heads carelessly over the bar. From close range, he should have worked Pickford at the very least. His pained expression suggests he thinks he should have scored.
43 sec: Ings slips Cash into space down the right. Cash slams the ball into Iwobi, and claims a penalty for handball, but the referee isn’t interested. Just a corner.
Everton get the ball rolling. No knee these days. Straight down to business.
The teams are out! Villa wear their famous claret, while in contrast to the aforementioned 1989 match, it’s Everton in Hummel clobber this time. They sport their new third-choice yellow shirts with fancy new badge, a super-minimalist take on Prince Rupert’s Tower. Lovely, and a snook cocked to the traditionalists. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Frank Lampard’s turn to chat with BT Sport. “We need to go again. We must focus on improving. This is another tough game, and last year we weren’t good enough away from home. We have to deal with the atmosphere. We’re delighted to have Conor Coady on board, he’s a great professional, a very good organiser, so he comes straight in.”
All eyes will be on the touchline today, just in case something kicks off and the two old Liverpool and Chelsea rivals exchange trenchant views … but there really is no point. All friends here!
Updated
BT chat to Everton new boy Conor Coady. “It’s been a really good week. It’s been seamless to come here, the lads have been outstanding. I’ve loved the training, but I’m so happy game day is here, that’s what we live for. I had goosebumps on the phone, thinking: I’m talking to Frank Lampard here. It was a little bit surreal. But I listened to every word he said and how he spoke about the club. I’m 29, I want to play as many games as I can, and I want to help Everton Football Club, that’s all I want to do. Every player wants to go to the World Cup, but there are incredible players vying for that position, so it’s up to me to help this club as much as I can. To not be playing was tough, so to come here is amazing. To be here is a real proud moment. I’ve got Evertonians in the family!” All of which is delivered at 1,001 words per minute, barely a breath taken between sentences. He’s up for this all right.
Steven Gerrard speaks to BT Sport. “Tyrone Mings is fully fit. I know I took the captaincy off him, but I didn’t take his position off him. He’s trained well. We’ve been vulnerable from set pieces, so his profile will be very important for us. I always try to be honest. I inherited the captaincy situation and wanted to put my own stamp on it. I wanted it to be my selection. I’m hoping in the long run it will help Tyrone with his consistency, because we’ve all seen he can be a top centre half.” He also names Roy Keane as his dream midfield partner, in the spirit of the Premier League’s 30th birthday celebrations. To be fair, the question forbade his choosing Frank Lampard, so let’s not cause trouble unnecessarily.
Tyrone Mings starts for Aston Villa. The deposed captain takes the place of Ezri Konsa. He’s one of two changes to the side defeated at Bournemouth last weekend, with Ollie Watkins also coming in, for Leon Bailey.
Everton hand Conor Coady a debut. He’s one of two changes from the Chelsea loss, Mason Holgate also starting, filling holes left by the injured Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina.
Updated
The teams
Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Diego Carlos, Mings, Digne, Ramsey, Kamara, McGinn, Watkins, Ings, Coutinho.
Subs: Konsa, Douglas Luiz, Buendia, Chambers, Augustinsson, Young, Olsen, Bailey, Archer.
Everton: Pickford, Patterson, Holgate, Coady, Tarkowski, Mykolenko, McNeil, Doucoure, Iwobi, Gray, Gordon.
Subs: Keane, Onana, Begovic, Alli, Coleman, Davies, Ruben Vinagre, Rondon, Mills.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Preamble
To a certain vintage of fan, this fixture instantly recalls the memorable 6-2 of 1989, Graham Taylor’s Villa on the up, Everton heading the other way, their mid-80s pomp officially over. Gorgeous kits, and the football wasn’t half bad either.
But enough nostalgia, even if this is the most-played fixture in English top-flight history. This is about the here and now, the very first managerial meeting between Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, England’s dream midfield pairing of the Noughties. Neither manager’s coat hangs from a shoogly peg … not yet … but rumblings of discontent won’t be far off should they follow up miserable opening-day defeats with a second loss. Villa did the double over relegation-haunted Everton last season, far superior in both matches, but this time round the Toffees have some fresh defensive power in Conor Coady and Amadou Onana. Villa have the historical advantage at 77 wins to 76 in 208 games; a 56th draw, then? Kick-off is at 12.30pm. It’s on!
