Villa undo themselves... again

🟥 18 Jan 2026 Villa 0-1 Everton, Villa Park

As night follows day, so does a poor Villa display follow an opportunity to make a step change in the table.

With results elsewhere universally favourable to Villa across the weekend, Unai Emery's boys have the chance to move outright second in the Premier League table, three points clear of third, eleven points clear of fourth, and four points off top.

They don't take it, and back into the pack they fall, with injuries now ruling out practically their entire first-choice midfield with a tough assignment away to Newcastle up next.

Injuries, of course, are guided by misfortune; repeatedly failing to raise your game is not.

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5812

Line Ups

Starting XI

GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 |

RB Matty Cash | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇵🇱 |

CB Pau Torres | 🇪🇸 |

CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

LB Ian Maatsen | 🇳🇱 | 🔁

DM Lamare Bogarde | 🇳🇱 | 🟨 🔁

CM Youri Tielemans | 🇧🇪 |

CM John McGinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | 🔁

AM Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 |

AM Morgan Rogers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

Substitutes

🔁 | CF Evann Guessand | 🇨🇮 | for CM John McGinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | (injury) | 18’ |

🔁 | M George Hemmings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | for DM Lamare Bogarde | 🇳🇱 | 73’ |

🔁 | LB Lucas Digne | 🇫🇷 | for LB Ian Maatsen | 🇳🇱 | 73’ |

Unused Substitutes

GK Marco Bizot | 🇳🇱 |

GK James Wright | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

CB Victor Lindelöf | 🇸🇪 |

CB Tyrone Mings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

RB Andrés García | 🇪🇸 |

CM Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

First Half Timeline

🪵 1’ Everton hit the woodwork

❗5’ Morgan Rogers lifts the ball over from 12 yards

❗11’ Pickford saves Ian Maatsen’s shot

🚑 14’ John McGinn injures himself in a tackle on Jack Grealish

❗16’ Villa play on with 10 men

🔁 18’ Sub off, John McGinn, Sub on, Evann Guessand

[🟨] 23’ Booking, (Everton), Dwight McNeill, Bad Foul

❗31’ Pickford saves Evann Guessand’s shot

❗32’ Martínez saves Everton shot

❗35’ Morgan Rogers’ goal-bound shot blocked

❗36’ Pickford saves Morgan Rogers’ shot

🪵 42’ Evann Guessand hits the woodwork

🕒 45’+3 Aston Villa 0-0 Everton

Half-Time Comment

Shades of Southampton in 2019 with SJM’s early sub, please not a repeat. That’s Kamara, Onana and McGinn, our entire midfield, now out as Villa feel sorry for themselves and put in a well below par first-half performance before a late flurry suggests more.

Second Half Timeline

[🟨] 47’ Booking, (Everton), James Garner, Bad Foul

❗50’ Youri Tielemans heads wide

🟨 56’ Booking, Lamare Bogarde, Bad Foul

💥 57’ Clear foul on Morgan Rogers goes unpunished, James Garner should be off for a second yellow and Villa should have a free kick just outside the area

💥 58’ Everton break, the ball bounces off Torres into McNeil’s path, Martínez spills the shot, Ezri cannot clear it off the line

🥅 59’ Goal, 0-1, (Everton), Thierno Barry

❗63’ Youri Tielemans’ shot blocked

❗66’ Morgan Rogers shoots over

❗69’ Morgan Rogers shoots over

❗72’ Pickford saves Morgan Rogers’ shot

🔁 73’ Sub off, Lamare Bogarde, Sub on, George Hemmings

🔁 73’ Sub off, Ian Maatsen, Sub on, Lucas Digne

❗74’ Emiliano Buendía’s shot blocked

❗78’ George Hemmings’ shot blocked

❗79’ Emiliano Buendía’s shot blocked

❗81’ Pickford saves Lucas Digne’s shot

❗90’+3 Emiliano Buendía heads wide

🕒 90’+5 Aston Villa 0-1 Everton

Full-Time Comment

A terrible day all told, embarrassing enough as it is to lose at home, to lose at home to Everton, to lose at home to David Moyes’ Everton, to lose at home to David Moyes’ Everton when there is an opportunity to take second place and build momentum, to lose at home to David Moyes’ Everton when there is an opportunity to take second place and build momentum in the most predictable fashion ever just takes the biscuit.

Little else needs to be said.

Officials Game Rating

Referee: Tony Harrington | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Cleveland, 2016- Game Rating: 0/10

Was perfectly anonymous for 58 minutes, which is a good thing, then his failure to award a free kick and send off James Garner for a clear foul and second-bookable offence led directly to Everton's goal. A disgrace of a decision.

VAR: Paul Howard | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | London, 2025-

Game Rating: 0/10

How VAR didn't intervene on both occasions after 58 minutes simply underlines that at best, it, and they, are not fit for purpose.

The Boss

Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | Hondarribia, 2022-

🕒 170 | 🟩 | 95 🟨 | 30 🟥 45 | 1.85

Villa lose Unai Emery’s 🇪🇸 85th Home game in charge of Villa, their 14th defeat at Villa Park over that time.

On This Day

Morgan Rogers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 100th appearance for Villa.

Morgan Rogers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 70th Premier League appearance for Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/morgan-rogers

Morgan Rogers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 100th appearance for Villa.

Lamare Bogarde 🇳🇱 makes his 40th appearance under Unai Emery 🇪🇸.

Lamare Bogarde 🇳🇱 makes his 20th start under Unai Emery 🇪🇸.

Lamare Bogarde 🇳🇱 makes his 25th Premier League appearance for Villa.

Lamare Bogarde 🇳🇱 makes his 10th Premier League start for Villa.

Lamare Bogarde 🇳🇱 suffers his 10th defeat for Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/lamare-bogarde

Emiliano Buendía 🇦🇷 makes his 125th appearance for Villa.

Emiliano Buendía 🇦🇷 makes his 40th start under Unai Emery 🇪🇸.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/emiliano-buend%C3%ADa

John McGinn 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 225th Premier League appearance for Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/john-mcginn

Lucas Digne 🇫🇷 makes his 130th Premier League appearance for Villa. He made just 113 in his four seasons with Everton before joining Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/lucas-digne

Evann Guessand 🇨🇮 makes his 20th appearance for Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/Evann-Guessand

Emiliano Martínez 🇦🇷 loses his 75th game for Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/Emiliano-Mart%C3%ADnez

Marco Bizot 🇳🇱 makes his 20th unused substitute appearance for Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/marco-bizot

Victor Lindelöf 🇸🇪 makes his 10th unused substitute appearance for Villa.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/victor-lindel%C3%B6f

Scenes

What they said

“It will be a tough game.

“They’ve got a lot of injuries and a couple of players away at AFCON, but we were probably lucky to get a point at Everton away, so we won’t be taking them lightly at all.

“I know the manager and the coaching staff from being Scottish, I know Jack (Grealish) well, Tim (Iroegbunam) and a few of their other players, so there are no easy games in this league.

“We need to be at our best again to try and keep the run going and keep climbing the table.

“We’re in a great position domestically, you never know what we can achieve there.

“In Europe, we’re in a strong position to qualify, and we have two games left in that, and then we have the FA Cup.

“It’s a very exciting few months ahead, but we need to take it step by step and approach it in the way we have been approaching it.”

John McGinn, pre-match.

"Three parts involved, player, team - my decision about the team & players we have - & club. For the club, it's a good deal, for me, I prefer him to stay here, but in case he was leaving, we are ready for it & we are working & I accept it.

"Now, after one year performing and helping us, Malen, we need the same situation in the last three years - one player competing with Ollie Watkins. The priority is someone with the characteristics of a striker who can compete or even play with Watkins.

“Obviously, it’s a decision not easy. Tough decision, but making sense. The player was being important, helping us, scoring goals, not being consistent in the starting eleven, but being very important. He knew it, and I spoke about it.

“He was happy and was being a protagonist, but not enough like he wanted. Players always have the possibility to change, and he opened his door to leaving in case there was some team that can give him something better than us."

Unai Emery on Donyell Malen’s move.

Clue: He wanted to leave

"This is the first target to set our standards as high as possible, then be as consistent.

"More or less, we are being consistent throughout the match as a club, as a team, as individual players. Being demanding and trying to focus wholly on our responsibility there.

"38 matches in the Premier League and it is a marathon. Hopefully, we can build strong through our supporters with the energy they give us."

Unai Emery, pre-match.

"Villa are a side in good form and we know we have to play well. Couple of shocks yesterday, so why not today?"

David Moyes, pre-match.

They compete very well. We had our chances, we didn't score and they had less chances, but they scored. They [Everton] compete well and after the goal they defended well.

“They have very good players and are strong tactically. They deserved to win. They competed fantastically. It's the Premier League.

"A lot of matches we play like that we win. They competed well, this is Premier League - they're a very good team and they have a very good coach.

"Yes, we can avoid the goal, but we didn't.

"It is the referee's decision [not penalising Garner].

"We lost a very good opportunity. We did a very good season until now, and today we lost. We will get balance because we are third in the league.

“We are not a contender to be in the top four like we are now.

"There is other teams with more potential than us.

"Pity for us [John McGinn’s injury] but we must accept that players can get injured.

“We must analyse the match and keep going.

"Tomorrow rest and on Tuesday we come back in.

"Keep working and thinking how we can improve."

Unai Emery, post-match.