At half time it was surprising that an end to end game still remained scoreless. But by full time our wretched home record had been maintained due to goal opportunities being spurned by us and our defensive frailties being exploited late in the game so another home defeat was the predictable end result.

So Everton stretch their recent unbeaten record against us to six and in so doing get only their third league win at Villa Park since 1987. But the end result could have been so different had Benteke’s early penalty not been kept out by Howard, had we put away one of the several chances we made after that, had referee Taylor brought Everton down to ten men by sending off McCarthy for the challenge he made on Westwood before they had opened their scoring and had we found the money this summer to have Barry steady our midfield rather than do the same for our opponents yesterday. But none of these things came to pass and a fourth home defeat from our first five league games of the season at Villa Park is very hard to take.

This was a game we really should not have lost and that on the balance of play we deserved something from. We had the chances early on to have opened up a two goal lead and had the better of a first half that had opportunities been taken by both sides and the respective goalkeepers not been in such good form could have ended around 3-1 to us. Given we were kicking towards the Holte End in the second half it was not unreasonable to expect that we would be able to apply some concerted pressure on an Everton team that were increasingly looking as if they would be satisfied with a point. But they had this game handed to them on a plate after having gone behind we squandered an opportunity to draw level which our overall play would have merited up until that point and then gave them a second through slack defending finishing the game comfortably second best.

As we did last season we are finding wins very hard to come by at Villa Park and we are getting into the habit of conceding goals all too easily and not being able to score them ourselves. That has dampened early season optimism and suggests we might yet face another season of struggle. It also puts a lot of pressure on our being able to pick up points away from home to make up for our inability to do so at Villa Park. Our next two home games are against Cardiff and Sunderland. These are games we might expect to start as favourites to win but that was the case when Newcastle rolled up earlier this season and were another team to come away from Villa Park with the points. So although these begin to have the look of “must win games” albeit very early in this season how confident can we be that we can conquer our Villa Park anxieties twice next month?

My player ratings from another Villa Park game that has seen the away fans rather than us leave the ground happy are:

Brad Guzan – 7 – Made a fantastic reaction save to deny Lukaku a headed goal by pushing out his goal bound header from a 26^th minute Coleman cross. His legs also prevented Lukaku opening the scoring after he had run past both Vlaar and Luna inside the box on 31 minutes.

Leandro Bacuna – 6 – Not able to get as involved up front as often as he usually does yesterday. This for me has further strengthened the case for trying Leandro further forward again and playing Lowton at the back in an attempt to strengthen both our defence and our ability to make things happen up front. Had a shot deflected for a corner having cut inside on 16 minutes.

Ron Vlaar – 7 – A good solid central defensive display.

Nathan Baker – 6 – Did well in the centre but he is not a full back and that showed when he moved there following Luna’s injury and got pulled into the middle too often leaving space on the flank more than once. He was too casual with a pass well inside his own half that he hit straight to Lukaku and was fortunate not to be punished for this lapse on 24 minutes. But he did well to deflect a Miralles effort out for a corner on 35 minutes and it was after he left the middle that Lukaku made hay.

Antonio Luna - 6 – Replaced on 45 minutes due to injury when stretching to reach a ball into the box aimed for Mirallas. He had found more than a little difficulty in managing Mirallas up until then. We missed the forward runs and crosses he might have provided in the second half.

Aleksandar Tonev – 6 – A decent enough performance. Tracked back well and moved forward on occasion with some purpose.

Fabian Delph – 7 – MOTM - Was unable to make quite the impact on a strong Everton midfield that he has made in other games so far this season but was still our most effective midfield player. Hit a measured shot towards the far post on 57 minutes that was deflected off Jagielka for a corner.

Ashley Westwood - 6 – Showed some signs of improvement on his recent displays. Got a touch to a Barclay effort from the edge of the box that hit the bar on the half hour.

Andreas Weimann – 5 – Did not seem comfortable in his wide position and really should have done better after a ball from Gabby aimed towards Benteke ran on to him in oceans of space on 25 minutes. His run was well timed but left clear Howard rushed forward and got a foot to the ball on the edge of the box before he could take the opportunity he had worked for himself and a defender blocked the ball to safety.

Gabby Agbonlahor – 5 – Should really have done better on 75 minutes after a nice ball from Delph found Weimann running in the box and his cross was deflected into his path but his effort although on target was tame and straight at Howard who gratefully gathered the ball. Had earlier made a committed run into the box on 56 minutes but an end product was missing. Failed to get any sort of challenge in on Osman for their second after Barry had been left in so much space inside the area and pushed the ball to their scorer on the edge of the box.

Christian Benteke – 6 – Currently lacks the sharpness he had before his injury which had seen him scoring goals for fun up until a month ago. Was brought down by Coleman inside the box after Weimann had played a nice ball to him between 2 defenders but his 8^th minute penalty was well read by Howard who pushed the ball over with a one handed save that was the first of the game changing moments in this game. He was again denied by the keeper on 23 minutes after Gabby had played a lovely ball to Tonev who then hit a pass past 2 defenders but Christian’s effort was kept out by Howard. Had a shot from the edge of the box deflected onto the back netting by Jagielka and will not have this many opportunities without scoring again this season.

Substitutes:

Ciaran Clark – 5 - Replaced Luna on 45 minutes and failed to stay on Lukaku on the edge of the box for their crucial opening goal. This was a disappointing second half performance by Ciaran playing as one of two rather than three central defenders.

Nicklas Helenius – Replaced Tonev on 77 minutes not on long enough to make any impression on the game or to merit a rating.

Up the Villa!

John Lewis

Source: Player Match Ratings: Villa pay the penalty for missed chances!