From a Villa perspective....
and I'll start by acknowledging that I'll be seeing the game a lot differently to many of you I'm assuming.
We deserved the win and were the better team. We did create some decent chances and looked more assured on the ball and could and probably should have been 2 up at half time. That has been our failing for the most part in the final third this season - the lack of a bit of calm in front of goal and chances are missed rather than forcing saves.
Second-half we did drop off deliberately I feel and its something we've done many times when winning. Not always successfully I'll add. But I think Emery is trying to turn us into how top European teams play when they get their noses in front and they control the game without the ball, and to a large extent I think it was the difference between the two teams in that we were better without the ball than Everton were.
I obviously haven't seen that much of you but it looked like a typical Moyes team as the second-half wore on with the ball being crossed or put into the mixer and luckily for us we had Mings rather than Torres out there as that's his meat and drink, Kamara and Konsa excelled too.
For the goal I think Pickford made it very easy for Watkins. Not sure what he was doing coming flying out and left part of the goal unattended for Watkins to simply roll the ball in to. Made what could have been a slightly tricky finish into a simple rolling of the ball into an empty net.
Onana - played well and I'm glad he didn't get a second yellow for obvious reasons. But I think the Everton player went down looking for it, and the reaction of the Everton players was disgraceful - rushing out to surround the referee to try and get him sent-off. Every single one of those players should have been carded (I think only two were).
Penalty claim? Not for me. I think that referees and rule makers have lost the ability to call fouls at corners now because they have allowed seemingly anything to happen. The Lindstrom push probably went against him because of how he went down. The follow-through arm from Rogers didn't match the theatrics of the Everton player so VAR probably decided that it wasn't that much of a push as he clearly made more of it than there was. If he had stayed on his feet VAR would still have picked up on the push and may have had more sympathy towards the attacking player. and decided he had been impeded. So, because of that I never really thought and pen would be given - its VAR though so you just never know.
Right result for me, and I think if we had have wanted to we would have raised our game another gear. We didn't need to and as poor as you were I think Moyes will get you playing probably with the same Dyche system, but more direct. What you missed was any creativity so you'll have to play to the strengths of width and balls into the box.
We go on to the next game with 3 hard earned, but fully deserved, points and a farewell to Goodison. Good luck for the rest of the season.
