Watkins spoils Moyes' return as Villa win at Everton

David Moyes suffered defeat on his return as Everton manager after Ollie Watkins’ second-half strike secured Aston Villa a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Goodison Park.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin lifted a huge stoppage-time chance over the bar as hopes of a dramatic equaliser for the hosts evaporated, with Everton having now won just one of their last 12 league games.

Watkins, who missed a glorious chance in the first half, made no mistake as he raced onto Morgan Rogers’ pass to slide his shot beneath Jordan Pickford for his ninth league goal of the season.

The result ignites Villa’s push for a Champions League place as they move up to seventh in the Premier League, three points off fourth-placed Newcastle. Everton, meanwhile, stay in 16th – just a point outside the relegation zone.

Moyes told TNT Sports: “I don’t think there was an awful lot in the game. I’m under no illusions of the job I’ve got to do. We could not score a goal again.

“We did have a decent control of the game, we were right in it, a little bit of a mistake and being out of position cost us the game.

“The position we’re in is not as good as we would like to be, that’s obvious. Sean [Dyche] got some great results earlier in the season but we have to show an awful lot more quality on the ball, that’s the most disappointing thing about it and I’ve told the players that.

“The character was never in question, it has always shone through and they tried to do everything they could to get a result but just could not get one.”

Moyes’ task laid bare as Everton fire blanks again

Back in 2002, the year Moyes first walked the corridors of the tunnel up to the dugout at Goodison Park, Everton were celebrating becoming the first English club to play 100 seasons in the top division.

Now, as he embarks on series two, his first test came in what is the most-played top-flight fixture in English football between the two most successful founder members of the world’s first football league.

Following a record-extending 214th meeting, Moyes will know for that proud record to be extended into next season, he must reinvigorate an ageing squad and a place that had gone stale under his predecessor.

Calvert-Lewin, whose contract expires in six months, had been urged to stand up and be the front man of Moyes’ second coming, with the striker having not scored since the reverse fixture at Villa Park back in September.

He had two presentable opportunities in the first half to break the deadlock, with his second effort cleared off the line by the excellent Boubacar Kamara with the ball caught underneath his feet. It never once felt like it was going in.

His opportunity at the end summed up his struggles. The pass to him from Jesper Lindstrom was not perfect as it bobbled his way but he ought to have hit the target. He is now without a goal in his last 16 games, across a staggering 1,212 minutes of football.

Abdoulaye Doucoure also had an effort comfortably saved from Vitalii Mykolenko’s cross. There was plenty of endeavour after Watkins’ decisive strike but few chances and ultimately not enough quality to deny Villa their first away league win since October and first away clean sheet since April last year.

Moyes added: “Ultimately it is not just this one game tonight, it has been other games and I think it is there for everybody to see,” he said. It’s not something I’ve just come in and said, ‘We’re not quite good enough at finishing’.

“By the way, I can’t ‘magic’ all that to change, I just can’t do it. We are needing to get those levels up. The situation the club has been in it has probably not been able to go to a level of player in the market which might make the difference.

“We do need to add to the squad if we can but we just have to be careful we don’t go too much (due to profitability and sustainability rules) but we will try to see what we can do – definitely.”

Clinical Villa pounce on Pickford indecision

Everton have now failed to score in nine of their last 11 league games – with just one goal in open play during that time. They are without a goal at all in over five hours but Villa arrived with their own problems to solve having lost each of their five league games on the road, conceding at least twice on each occasion.

For Watkins, it was a night of atonement. The striker was gifted a clear sight of goal in the first half as he ran onto Ashley Young’s poor backpass but his shot veered wide of the post.

By then, Rogers had already drawn a fine save from Pickford but the England No 1 showed indecision at the crucial moment six minutes after the restart.

Several 50-50 challenges were missed by players in blue higher up the pitch before Jarrad Branthwaite’s mishit pass allowed Rogers to break and feed his team-mate Watkins for a low finish, with the Everton goalkeeper unsure of his positioning.

It was the fourth time Watkins has combined for a goal with Rogers this season and on this occasion it was enough to seal all three points as Moyes’ return ended in defeat.

In truth, Villa did not produce much in the second half beyond their goal. The opener might have come sooner when on the stroke of half-time, Jacob Ramsey fired inches wide. Thereafter, the visitors reverted to good game management, with the rub of the green favouring Unai Emery’s side when Ramsey blocked Branthwaite’s shot from a half-cleared corner.

Given Everton’s attacking problems, Watkins’ strike was always likely to prove enough.

“I’m very happy,” said Emery. “It was a tough match. We played 90 minutes and competed very well. We had some clear chances in the first half and we tried to push and take even more control in the second but we couldn’t, but we scored.

“This victory is very important. We have started the year winning at home, in the Premier League and in the FA Cup. Away, we were in a bad spell and had to break it.”

Villa extend fine Toffees record – Opta stats

• Aston Villa have won both of their first two Premier League games of a calendar year for the first time since 2009.
• Everton have lost three successive Premier League games, all without scoring, for the first time since doing so in their first three such matches of 2023/24. The Toffees have now failed to score in nine of their last 11 league matches.
• Aston Villa have now won 10 Premier League away games against Everton, their most away to any opponent in the competition (9 vs Southampton). The Villans have won four of their last five league games at Goodison Park (D1), more than their previous 19 beforehand (W3 D9 L7).
• This was Aston Villa’s first away win in the Premier League since October at Fulham (3-1), ending a run of five successive defeats on the road. It was also their first away clean sheet in the competition since April 2024 at Arsenal, ending a run of 11 such outings without a shutout.

Story of the match in stats

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