Thierno Barry goal hands Everton victory and dents Aston Villa’s hopes

Everton beat Aston Villa at Villa’s home when Thierno Barry pounced on an Emiliano Martínez fumble after a Pau Torres lapse, the striker’s finish approaching the hour proving to be the only goal and dealing a blow to Villa’s title hopes. Unai Emery had framed the game as pivotal in his programme notes, the words attributed to him in caps lock: “THIS MATCH IS CRUCIAL,” after Arsenal and Manchester City had dropped points and Villa sought a chance to return to second and cut the leaders’ advantage to four points.

David Moyes’s side, meanwhile, recovered from the setback of Jake O’Brien’s first-half header being disallowed for an offside Harrison Armstrong deemed to be interfering with play. The contest threatened to go wrong for Villa from the outset: Merlin Röhl struck a post inside 11 seconds and John McGinn was forced off after 18 minutes, a disruption compounded by the absence of Boubacar Kamara, who Emery conceded could be sidelined long term with a knee injury, and the missing former Everton midfielder Amadou Onana with a hamstring problem.

Villa squandered chances — Morgan Rogers spooning over, Evann Guessand failing to convert a one-on-one before heading against the bar — and a chain of errors led to the decisive moment when Ezri Konsa’s pass rebounded off Torres into Dwight McNeil’s path, Martínez spilled McNeil’s curling shot and Barry, preferred to Beto, dinked in what proved to be the only goal.

Key Topics

Sports, Everton, Aston Villa, Thierno Barry, Unai Emery, David Moyes