Aston Villa vs Everton. Premier League.
Villa ParkAttendance41,694.
Match report and free highlights as John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Leon Bailey and Jhon Duran score to give Aston Villa 4-0 victory over poor Everton; Dominic Calvert-Lewin forced off with facial injury before half-time
Monday 21 August 2023 06:09, UK
A Leon Bailey-inspired Aston Villa bounced back from their opening-weekend thrashing by Newcastle with a 4-0 win over Everton, who saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin forced off with another injury.
Villa put sorry Everton to the sword with a dominating first-half performance putting them in full control. They needed only 18 minutes to open the scoring, when Bailey's pull-back was turned home from close range by John McGinn.
Jordan Pickford's clumsy foul on Ollie Watkins soon allowed Villa to add a second from 12 yards through Douglas Luiz, who took over penalty duties from the striker to net his first spot kick for the club.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin's long-awaited comeback from his latest injury absence lasted only 35 minutes as Everton's start went from bad to worse, with the England forward unable to carry on after an earlier blow to the face. "He's got a knock on his cheekbone so we're waiting for that," Sean Dyche later told Sky Sports. "He had a bit of blurred vision too, so in the end we had to make a call on it."
Bailey turned from provider to scorer six minutes after half-time from a calamity at the back, as Michael Keane's weak interception from a Villa throw fell for him to finish easily past Pickford.
Everton's defending for the hosts' fourth was even worse. Ashley Young's dreadful throw-in acted as the perfect pass for substitute Jhon Duran, who could not believe his luck to net his first Villa goal 47 seconds after coming on.
"You can set a team up and have decent players on paper, but when they go out and perform like this, what can you do? It's just appalling, it's disgraceful defending," said Sky Sports' Andy Hinchcliffe, with Everton now guaranteed to end the day bottom of the Premier League for the first time since October 2010.
A high-tempo start at both ends offered little indication of what was to follow at Villa Park, with Everton looking to build on their performance, more than the result, against Fulham eight days earlier.
But once the hosts, themselves looking to bounce back from a 5-1 hammering at St James' Park, took an early lead the wheels soon came off. Moussa Diaby set Bailey away in the area, and his pull-back from the byline was bundled home by Villa captain McGinn.
Within minutes, what at first appeared a narrow escape when a Watkins effort was cleared off the line by Nathan Patterson was instead penalised with a penalty when Anthony Taylor spotted Pickford had clattered into the Villa forward.
Watkins would previously have stepped up to take the spot kick himself but, after missing two of his five penalties in a Villa shirt, handed the responsibility over to Luiz who repaid Unai Emery's faith from 12 yards.
Everton were dealt another blow when Calvert-Lewin was unable to shake off an earlier collision with Emiliano Martinez and, sporting a swollen cheek, was substituted early on in his latest comeback.
Arnaut Danjuma tried hard as his replacement and tested Martinez in first-half added time, but Everton's green shoots of recovery were short-lived.
A routine throw-in move should have been cleared by Keane six minutes into the second period but his poor kick was the perfect invitation for Bailey, who did not pass up the opportunity to score with a smart finish.
Everton continued to act as masters of their own downfall in a notably un-Dyche-like display, with Villa's fourth condemning the Toffees to the biggest defeat of his Goodison Park reign.
Young's inexplicable defensive throw, straight to Duran, was turned home by the 19-year-old less than a minute after coming on to round up victory.
The manner of their latest defeat leaves Everton bottom of the league and already turns up the pressure on their next two league games, against Wolves and Sheffield United, less than a month into the season.
Everton manager Sean Dyche told Sky Sports:
"They were better in all departments. Overall, the sharpness, the edge that's important in a performance - particularly them scoring goals, driving into the box, looking a lot more alive than we were defensively.
"Miles off it today. It's a strange one because we were really on it last weekend. We've got to find consistency - I used that word constantly last season, week-to-week and in our performance. That was badly lacking today.
"The learning I've had from the last couple of seasons is good one week, miles off it the next week. We've got to find consistency. We find it through the training ground but we've got to put it into performances. There's no excuses today, they were miles better than us."
"[The response was] really amazing. We controlled the game, we were strong defensively and we deserved to win. I'm very happy."
On Philippe Coutinho's late injury: "I think it's not serious. I think maybe it's muscular but I think it's not going to be big injury, hopefully it's just small because the first test with the doctor is hamstring. Of course it's not good news when someone is injured. I think Coutinho in two or three weeks is going to be available again."
Aston Villa's next game is away to Hibernian in the first leg of their Europa Conference League qualifying play-off round tie on Wednesday- kick-off 5.45pm.
Unai Emery's side then travel to Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday - kick-off 2pm.
Everton are next in action on Saturday when they host Wolves in the Premier League - kick-off 3pm.
The Toffees then travel to Doncaster in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday August 30 - kick-off 8pm.
