Saturday, May 1, 2021 at 10:57 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme

Everton did itself a disservice on Saturday evening by going down in-house against Aston Villa: 1-2. The team of manager Carlo Ancelotti had a slight field predominance in-house, but had to watch how the visitors took the longest in the final phase by a nice goal from Anwar El Ghazi. With the defeat, Everton fails to claim fifth place in the Premier League, which would ensure the team’s participation in the Europa League group stage at the end of the ride.

Villa took the lead early in the game. Mason Holgate choked on the ball and saw how Ollie Watkins could only go after goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. The attacker did stumble along the way, but scrambled up quickly to simply sign up for the opening goal. For a long time the visitors could not enjoy the lead, as Everton equalized the score barely five minutes later. On a pass from Lucas Digne, it was Dominic Calvert-Lewin who came high above everyone else. It was then a breeze for the attacker to head the 1-1 against the ropes.

Not much later, the same Calvert-Lewin had the opportunity to head Everton in the lead, but this time was inaccurate in the completion and had to watch as goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had an excellent save in the house. On the other hand, it was Ross Barkley who thought Villa would take the lead. The midfielder applied for a free kick about twenty meters from the goal, but saw how Pickford prevented a hit with the utmost effort. In the second company, the game remained even and there were opportunities back and forth. A shot by Richarlison ended just wide of the right post and a cross by Gylfi Sigurdsson was barely saved.

When the game then seemed to be heading for a draw, El Ghazi still carried out the verdict for the visitors. The midfielder was served by Bertrand Traoré, put the ball well in front of his right leg and then curled the leather nicely in the top right corner. Joshua King was then given an imposed opportunity to shoot Everton alongside, but saw his attempt go close to the left post. For Villa it meant the first win after three games in a row without a win.