If after Villa’s dominant opening it was incomprehensible how we trailed 2-0, it was topped only by Jhon Duran’s outrageous strike to win the game 3-2. This was a remarkable game of football at Villa Park, enthralling at times, but crucially one in which Emery’s side came out victors.
Villa started brightly and having been reversed for kick-off, seemed inevitable to take the lead in front of The Holte End. Everton somehow absorbed relentless pressure, before naturally dispossessing former team-mate Amadou Onana, and Dwight McNeil finished expertly beyond Martinez. It was very much the definition of ‘against the run of play’.
Villa tried to pick up where they left off but found themselves two down on 26 minutes. An inswinging free kick was lapped up by an unmarked Calvert-Lewin, who guided a flicked header beyond the helpless Martinez. The away support was in raptures, presumably in disbelief as much as joy.
However, Everton, who had surrendered a two-goal lead in their last fixture against Bournemouth, never looked safe. For all the archetypal aggression that a Dyche team manifests there was a relentless wasteful dependency upon the long ball. This was predictable and gifted possession back to Villa and with it a way back into the game.
Onana, reeling from his earlier error and a number of heavy challenges, fed Digne. The French international, revitalised under Emery, chipped a dangerous ball to the far post for Watkins to force home. It set Villa up nicely for a second half to unpick a visiting side struggling to comprehend that lightning can indeed strike twice.
Barkley appeared in place of Onana and immediately complimented the outstanding Tielemans. Villa probed and pressed and Watkins grabbed his second after a failed attempted clearance fell into his path. The brace, his first goals of the season were very welcome, but careful observers will have noted that two other fine opportunities went begging across 90 minutes with it.
Everton had their moments too, largely as a result of Ndiaye whose pace and trickery exposed a makeshift right side of McGinn and Bogarde. As Villa searched for a winner there were brief moments of terror, firstly a ball flashed across the six yard box and then as Calvert-Lewis broke through. With Villa chasing on anticipating the assistant’s flag, Konsa’s last-ditch tackle proved vital, as that flag never came and a glorious chance to re-take the lead went begging for Dyche’s side.
Duran entered the fray as a sub and was typically lively from the offset. The raw Colombian took it upon himself to determine proceedings promptly, setting himself via a Barkley layoff to lash home an unstoppable drive from over 30 yards. The gasp from Villa Park as he let rip was broken only by the roar from the stands as the ball rocketed spectacularly beyond Pickford. It was a truly exceptional goal, which will be for many the best they can say to have seen in person.
There was of course the obligatory scare, the Everton striking the underside of the bar, but Villa ran out deserved winners after a breathless encounter in B6. The win lifts us up to third spot and sets the tone nicely ahead of a trip to face Young Boys in our first Champions League (European Cup) fixture in 41 years. UTV.
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