John Townley's Aston Villa player ratings vs Everton as 8s and 9s awarded after 1-0 win
Aston Villa have earned their first away league win since October by beating Everton 1-0 on David Moyes' return to Goodison Park.
Villa have opened their top-flight campaign in a calendar year with two victories for the first time since winning their first three fixtures in 2009 and are also now unbeaten in their past six Premier League visits to Goodison Park. They've also now kept four successive clean sheets in a league match at Everton for the first time in their history.
Unai Emery's side started on the front foot with Morgan Rogers and Amadou Onana having shots in the first six minutes. Shortly after those two efforts, Ollie Waktins then played Youri Tielemans in, but James Tarkowski blocked the Belgian's strike inside the box.
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Watkins passed up on a big chance to open the scoring in the 17th minute following a mistake from Ashley Young, whose pass back to Jordan Pickford was short. Watkins bent his effort wide of the far post when he ought to have done better.
Calvert-Lewin and Abdoulaye Doucoure passed up on opportunities before Jacob Ramsey then squandered the chance to put Villa ahead just before the break. The ball fell for him in the box, but his strike whistled past the post.
Villa started the second period like they did the first, on top. And they went ahead through Watkins, who didn’t pass up on his second chance to bag after being played in by Rogers as he calmly slotted past Pickford.
After now failing to score in nine of their last 11 league games, Everton are winless in their last 12 Premier League games against Villa, having won six of the previous eight meetings.
Villa are next in action on Saturday when they face Arsenal (5:30pm) at the Emirates Stadium, before taking on Monaco in the Champions League on Tuesday (5:45pm).
Player ratings
Emi Martinez
Martinez will be delighted to have recorded a clean sheet here, which is only the club's third of the league campaign and first of the season on the road. 8
Matty Cash
Cash held his width well on the right flank and was an outlet throughout the match. His energy was important as Villa transitioned from defence to attack. 7
Ezri Konsa
Konsa was a calming presence in the backline. He used the ball effectively and operated well alongside Mings. 8
Tyrone Mings
Mings was dominant in the air and defended Calvert-Lewin's threat well. His poor pass back to Martinez invited pressure on the defence after a comfortable opening 10 minutes, but other than that, the centre-back enjoyed another strong display. 8
Lucas Digne
Digne came back into the side after Ian Maatsen played from the off in the FA Cup third round clash against West Ham last Friday. He put a few searching crosses into the box and performed well once again. 7
Boubacar Kamara
Kamara slotted into back three to form a strong foundation when Villa were in possession. That allowed them to keep the ball in the Everton half and also defend against counter-attack effectively for the most part. The Frenchman got through plenty of work in the middle of the park, breaking up play and covering plenty of ground. 9*
Amadou Onana
Onana made his return to Goodison Park tonight after his £50m transfer from the Blues to Villa in the summer. He was bang up for this one, making a real impact in the first eight minutes, but he quickly went in the book and his influence faded. 7
Morgan Rogers
Rogers came close to scoring in the fifth minute when he bent the ball towards the far corner, which called Pickford into making a sharp save. He recorded his fourth assist of the league campaign, helping Watkins to his first goal in an away game since the 3-1 win at Craven Cottage in October. 7
Youri Tielemans
Tielemans had a better chance than Rogers' first just minutes after the England international's effort was saved by Pickford. The midfielder was rolled in by Watkins, but his strike was blocked by an excellent tackle from Tarkowski. Excellent in tight spaces. 8
Jacob Ramsey
Ramsey made his first start since suffering an injury in Villa's last trip to Merseyside back in November. He should have scored the opening goal just before the half-time whistle blew when he missed the target from a brilliant position to score. 7
Ollie Watkins
Watkins kept his place in the starting XI and Duran - who returned to the squad after serving a ban - took a place on the bench. The forward handed Tielemans the chance to score in the ninth minute, but he should have done better after being presented with the opportunity to beat Pickford at an angle. He made no mistake from his next chance, calmly slotting past Pickford not longer after the second half started. 8
SUBS
Emi Buendia (for Ramsey, 82'): N/A
Subs not used: Olsen, Gauci, Nedeljkovic, Bogarde, Maatsen, Bailey, Jimoh-Aloba, Duran.
GOALS
Everton: N/A
Aston Villa: Watkins (51')
