Ratings & Reactions: Villa v Everton

[FLVillan]

1 hour ago, Jareth said:

Everton had chances but boy did they get the rub of the green with their two goals. Onana gets the foul called most of the time and we succeed with the offside trap most of the time. I actually felt their proper bonified chances were second half when DCL dithered and when he struck the bar. We knew we would get back into it, that's down to Unai, but it did look like we weren't going to get the third. Until that goal. Duran won us that game, sounds obvious, but he got us over the line. Special. 

Aha!  Someone stating I was thinking!  First Everton goal, Onana gets kicked twice by McNeil on the so-called tackle.  McNeil literally kicked through Onana's leg to get the faintest of touches, after he had already kicked him to knock him off the ball.  How that wasn't a foul I'll never know...  Second goal, offside trap only fails because their player is pushing/blocking Tielemans.  Calvert Lewin gets very lucky as he was well beyond every other defender when it was played and he had no idea Tielemans was behind him.  For the first Calvert-Lewin miss, when Konsa knocked it away, he's a good yard offside when played through.  Even with the "new VAR" that would have been chalked off had he put it away.

For me, they had two legitimate chances in the match and scored one, which is to be expected. 

BUT, We were in complete control of the match and it was a matter of time before our dominance paid off.  Even at 2-0 down I was relaxed and expecting us to win.  

Oh, and Tarkowski is an absolute *****er.  Not since ManUre of the 90's have I seen so much whining at the referee.  

[FLVillan]

1 hour ago, supermon said:

Didn't think Onana got fouled, he seemed a bit clumsy and made the error himself

Have to disagree.  The first replay they showed (which conveniently hasn't been shown since) McNeil kicks his leg away causing him to lose balance, then as he's falling, McNeil kicks through his other leg to get the faintest touch on the ball. It's a foul all day long (actually two fouls).  Poor decision by the referee in real-time and the expected non-reversal by VAR under their "new guidelines" that seem to direct them that only an act of documentable GBH will result in reversing such a decision.

[allani]

2 minutes ago, FLVillan said:

Have to disagree.  The first replay they showed (which conveniently hasn't been shown since) McNeil kicks his leg away causing him to lose balance, then as he's falling, McNeil kicks through his other leg to get the faintest touch on the ball. It's a foul all day long (actually two fouls).  Poor decision by the referee in real-time and the expected non-reversal by VAR under their "new guidelines" that seem to direct them that only an act of documentable GBH will result in reversing such a decision.

I agree on the first foul.  Second one I think was fair enough - but it should already have been a free-kick to us.  Emi's booking was bizarre given how often their defenders didn't release the ball when they were pinged for a free-kick - definitely pre-meditated by the referee.  And I'm slightly surprised (not surprised) that they didn't look to see whether Tielemans was being pushed for the offside check.

I thought we were well worth the three points though.  Good to see Ollie back in the goals (although he'll be disappointed not to have complete his hat-trick) and Duran's goal - just wow.  It looks better and better from every different angle.  Emi's reaction is priceless. 

[nick76]

Wonder strike by Duran

Glad Ollie scored a couple and even managed to miss a couple.

Tielemans was superb, sublime and MOTM imo

Torres needs to toughen up as he gets knocked off the ball to easy. Quality player and great bringing the ball out but he will get targeted more by physical strikers.

I’ve send Calvert Lewin a number of times but never realised he had such a turn of pace.

Fantastic game, great to come back and in such a way.

Need to stop conceding so often and so easily.

[Jas10]

 

[The Fun Factory]

34 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

 

Love Ollie hugging the steward and handshake with the official. Looks so settled at the club.

[6065_Villa]

Dug ourselves out of a self made hole but never panicked which was good to see. Player some good stuff but need to tighten up at the back.

Pleased for Ollie and that should settle him down.

Thought Youri was first class and what a goal from big Jhon Carew M2..

Looking forward to Tuesday onwards and upwards.

UTV

[El Segundo]

Deserved to win but made it unnecessarily hard for ourselves.

Defence all over the place at times, but we were chasing the game for a lot of it. 

Emi – love him to bits but low shots to his left seem to be his weakness.  Numerous “saveable” goals conceded that way since he joined us.

Bogarde’s a decent defender but not a full back. Offers zero going forward.  Played DCL onside for one of his big chances.  We really missed Cash and Bailey down the right.

Digne – another good solid performance and great cross for Ollie’s first

Pau was bullied by DCL too often and made a few wayward passes

Konsa also struggled with DCL at times but otherwise solid

Onana – not his best game but not terrible either. Possibly fouled for their first.

Youri – very good, ran things.

McGinn – very decent, he makes things happen, but we still missed Bailey’s wing play.  

Morgan some good some not so good. Needs some shooting practice to find the corners.

Ramsey not his usual self, seemed reluctant to run at them.

Ollie got two, first was a brilliant soaring header,  but still missed at least one easy chance.

Maatsen – looks good going forward, wonderful set up for Ollie’s missed chance

Buendia – just good to see him back and did ok.

Duran - That was the very definition of  a thunderbastard.  Three winners in four sub appearances.

Philogene – short and not very sweet cameo, gave a needless free kick away and put us under unnecessary pressure.

Barkley – looked composed and assured, but almost got caught in possession a few times and seemed averse to passing to Bogarde for some reason.

Was impressed with DCL although he should have had at least one more goal. Fast strong and good in the air.

Edited Sunday at 00:55 by El Segundo
error

[Hobsons Choice]

42 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Love Ollie hugging the steward and handshake with the official. Looks so settled at the club.

Yeah, of everyone coming through the tunnel, his body language was easily the most positive. You could tell he was chuffed to get off the mark. Think that will help his confidence no end.

[Nor-Cal Villan]

Not much to add, everything has pretty much been said. When a shooter is in a slump commentators love to say “he just needs to see one or two go through the net.” I think that’s the deal with Watkins. Just needed to find the back of the net by any means necessary. Been close several times this season but no cigar. Well, today it was yes cigar. Let the floodgates be opened! 

[Ponky]

I think some of our players go down way too easily looking for fouls and when the ref doesn't blow for them it leaves us scrambling.

Martinez was pretty poor for their first goal but I thought he really made up for it in the second half coming off his line and really dominating the box for all their set pieces.

I gave Tielemans motm for keeping everything ticking but Duran, Watkins, Digne all had great games too.

Duran is not only scoring worldies but showing discipline and doing all the team things as well. He looks like he might have bought into the Emery way. 

McGinn is a bit of a worry for mine though. Just not having much of an effect on games and seems too isolated out on the right. Hopefully he'll get going soon.

 

[delboy54]

10 hours ago, Rodders said:

Credit to Barkley, thought he had a really good game coming on at half time. Gave him MoM to acknowledge that even if maybe should have gone to Ollie or Duran

Yeah, when he came on at half time I said to my friend next me that Barkley has to do a lot to redeem himself when he was here the first time. I thought he had a superb second half, MoM for me. He looked cool and calm in the centre, did a great job today.

[alreadyexists]

I’m not a huge proponent in the xG thing, but it can sometimes be useful, and I think yesterday was a prime example of showing how the game played out.

 

 

Edited Sunday at 06:25 by alreadyexists

[chrisvilla4]

8 hours ago, Jareth said:

Not sure what to do now - we were first on MOTD

Very muted coverage I thought though.

 

[lapal_fan]

I was sat in the Holte yesterday and even at 2-0 down I was as calm and content as I've ever been when losing.

We were controlling the ball so well, there was an air of inevitability that we'd be alright.  

It doesn't seem to really matter what our midfield is either, he's got us making such good choices, even if a move doesn't quite work, we'll just recycle the ball and go again.

The high line has always been a risk Vs reward strategy, and looking at the points we've accumulated since Unai came, I'm more than happy to give a few goals away.

There were a few - very mature - blokes around me who got really upset when their second went in, audibly calling Ollie rubbish, Bogarde crap and that we should just "get the ball forward", like we were still playing 70s/80s kick and rush football.

Quite sweet really.

Not a peep out of them, even in support, after the second Ollie goal of the day went in.

I always wonder if they feel like donuts afterwards, but it seems not, because it's always been the same.

It's crazy in our current situation, with all the evidence over the last 2 years, that they still find something to moan about.  I just get the feeling they don't like the actual football, they just enjoy 3 points.

Soulless ghouls.

[VillaJ100]

Finally look like a top team in that most teams 6th and upwards who go 0-2 down are pretty confident of turning it around and winning. Example the 7-2 Klopp even said at half time thought they could come back to at least draw despite being 4-1 down. We did exactly that and showed why we're a top team. 

[Follyfoot]

10 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

I was sat in the Holte yesterday and even at 2-0 down I was as calm and content as I've ever been when losing.

We were controlling the ball so well, there was an air of inevitability that we'd be alright.  

It doesn't seem to really matter what our midfield is either, he's got us making such good choices, even if a move doesn't quite work, we'll just recycle the ball and go again.

The high line has always been a risk Vs reward strategy, and looking at the points we've accumulated since Unai came, I'm more than happy to give a few goals away.

There were a few - very mature - blokes around me who got really upset when their second went in, audibly calling Ollie rubbish, Bogarde crap and that we should just "get the ball forward", like we were still playing 70s/80s kick and rush football.

Quite sweet really.

Not a peep out of them, even in support, after the second Ollie goal of the day went in.

I always wonder if they feel like donuts afterwards, but it seems not, because it's always been the same.

It's crazy in our current situation, with all the evidence over the last 2 years, that they still find something to moan about.  I just get the feeling they don't like the actual football, they just enjoy 3 points.

Soulless ghouls.

Was not there yesterday as I’m on holiday but the blokes around us shout” forward Villa forward forward “ continuously when we pass the ball  around

[tinker]

Evertons first goal started with a clear foul and there 2nd, our player was pushed into playing their player onside, the ref was inconsistent and VAR......what's the point?

The game...... we had so many opportunities to get the ball into the box from good positions and never, yet we scored a second from an optimistic cross, that took a lucky deflection and our 3rd was an unbelievable shot from a distance and a position we had been in countless times and not took the opportunity to shoot. We need to get the ball in the box more often, get it in the mix and make teams defend the ball in their own box, it leads to chances and goals. I can understand why we dont,  we lose possession but against the low block we have to take that chance.

Our defense......Pau needs to bulk up, Mings would have loved that game, right up his street. Ollie.....what a team player, this guys unbelievable, Duran.....the guys got ability in spades and would start in any team outside the top 3, we have a real chance of doing something very special with these 2 forwards, they look unstoppable, in different ways.

This win is a statement, we are in the mix to win things this season, what team has a better forward line in the premier?  None. 

[tonyh29]

1 hour ago, chrisvilla4 said:

Very muted coverage I thought though.

 

They somehow suggested it was a contest and that Everton barely saw the ball 

bizarre 

[sheepyvillian]

13 hours ago, CosmicVillan said:

On the TV you could hear some of the Villa crowd saying "shoooot" as the ball went to Duran. Just as it left his boot my stream froze I was cursing him for shooting from there as it looked wild with no chance of going in.

Then after about 15 long seconds my stream unfroze and my jaw hit the floor. Speechless. 

That happened to me too. I actually saw Pickford frozen in mid - air and thought he'd saved It, then heard, "To take your breath away." Incidentally, his name escapes me, but I always enjoy that Sky commentator.