After putting together a run of five wins in six, there was plenty of optimism ahead of the Blues’ trip to Villa Park, with Villa not yet safe from relegation, yet if you saw the game on Saturday and had no idea of the two sides’ league positions, you’d think Everton were still battling the drop.
Villa were the superior side from minute one to ninety.
Everton were never at the races.
It didn’t take long for Aston Villa to go ahead. From a deflected Fabian Delph cross, Christian Benteke was inexplicably left unmarked between Jagielka and Stones. The Belgian striker planted his header past a helpless Tim Howard for his tenth goal in nine games.
There appeared to be no heart, desire or any ideas from Everton in a disastrous first half, and they didn’t manage a single shot.
The home side also missed a glorious chance to double their advantage, when Ron Vlaar somehow managed to miss the target from five yards out. More shambolic defending from the Blues left the Dutch international with a free header, but he blazed his header wide.
Everton didn’t learn their lesson though.
On the stroke of half-time, Villa doubled their lead. Gareth Barry failed to track Benteke at a corner, and he had the freedom of Villa Park to slam the ball into the net.
The defending was absolutely embarrassing, and it was like all the progress over the last month and a half had been thrown away.
The second half began slightly more positively for Everton, without creating much.
Romelu Lukaku fired narrowly wide from 25 yards following a counter-attack, but Villa still seemed on top.
Shortly after though, the Blues were allowed a route back into the game. After Lukaku’s burst forward, the ball fell to Steven Naismith in the box. The Scot was upended by a clumsy tackle from Vlaar, and referee Mark Clattenburg pointed straight to the spot.
Lukaku coolly rolled the ball past a despairing Shay Given for his 19th goal of the season, and halved the deficit.
However, in typical Everton fashion, they blew their chance. Leandro Bacuna threaded a stunning pass through to Tom Cleverley, who smashed the ball past Tim Howard into the roof of the net.
From a defensive point of view, it was definitely preventable. There should never have been such a big gap in the Everton backline, and no-one even attempted to close Bacuna down.
The match was really finished as a contest after that, and Villa continued to control the game.
The Blues did manage to pull one back in the second minute of stoppage time, as shocking defending from the hosts allowed Phil Jagielka to nod the ball home. Shay Given flapped at a looping Jagielka header under pressure from Seamus Coleman, and the ball fell perfectly for the Everton skipper. Villa appealed for a foul but there wasn’t one forthcoming.
This was another step back in a season of under-performance for Everton, which sees them slip back into the bottom half of the table. Villa, meanwhile, continue their upturn under new manager Tim Sherwood, although Sunderland’s win means they remain just two points above the drop.
Everton must put together some much-improved performances in their last three games, or the doom and gloom at Goodison will surely return.
