After losing the first match against Bournemouth, Aston Villa have made a comeback in the English Premier League. They just have defeated Everton FC to get their first PL points in the new campaign. Danny Ings and Emi Buendia scored goals for Aston Villa.
As It Happened
Aston Villa welcomed Everton FC at Villa Park to play their first home game of the season. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, the two former teammates, faced off as the managers in this match. Aston Villa’s manager Steven Gerrard played his team in a 4-1-2-1-2 formation. He used Philippe Coutinho as the attacking midfielder. Meanwhile, Frank Lampard set up the team formation with 3-4-3. He used two wing-backs in this match.
However, Everton looked very strong in the opening 20 minutes. They created some real chances as well as defended brilliantly. But the home team became stable eventually. Aston Villa opened the scoresheet in the 31st minute as Danny Ings found the net with the help of Ollie Watkins. After that, the home team created some good chances but failed to score. Everton also couldn’t return any goals in the first half. So, Aston Villa went to the break, taking a one-goal lead.
Returning from the break, Everton became desperate to find the equalizer. They took 15 shots in the entire match. Unfortunately, the Toffees couldn’t find the net. Villa boss Steven Gerrard substituted Coutinho with Emi Buendia in the 60th minute, and guess what? He doubled the lead for the home team as the Argentine scored a brilliant goal in the 85th minute.
However, Everton returned a goal just before the whistle as Villa defender Lucas Digne netted the ball in his own net in the 87th minute. But this wasn’t enough to get anything from the match for Everton. Thus, Aston Villa won their first match of the season.
Gerrard’s Reactions
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard is delighted to get three points at home. He said, “I certainly believe that our performance over the course of the 90 minutes deserved the outcome we got. It was much different to last week: more quality, everyone was tuned in and contributed to an important win.”
“The conditions were extremely hard today and we had to give a lot to the game. We have to check on a few injuries and knocks we’ve got. I’m hoping that’s not going to dampen the feeling we’ve got because it was important that we bounced back today and important that we gave our supporters a better level of performance. Our players have delivered,” the manager added.