In a thrilling match, Aston Villa continued to push into the Big Four’s territory by besting Everton at Goodison Park. Villa took the Toffees down 3-2 on Ashley Young’s winner deep in extra time. Young, who many speculated might not even play in this match, broke clear before heroically putting the ball past American keeper Tim Howard.
Early on, it looked like it would be all Villa when Steve Sidwell scored in the game’s first minute. But, it didn’t take long for Everton to level the game on a Joleon Lescott goal. Young also scored the Villans second goal after some sloppy Everton defense, but Lescott evened things for Everton once again with an equalizer just into extra time. Young wasn’t done yet though, and his play earned Villa three points.
As for the “Battle of the American Goalies”, Friedel clearly came out the winner here. He had five brilliant saves and held off an Everton side that kept possession of the ball for nearly 66% of the game. Tim Howard had one of his worst games of the year, yielding three goals while only making two saves. In Howard’s defense, his mates completely let him down by letting Young streak free for the winner.
Aston Villa’s big win allows them to keep their spot in 5th on the league table just outside the EPL’s Big Four. The loss drops Everton one place to 8th and, even worse, continues their rash of extremely poor play at home. Everton will need to rebound next week on the road against Man City, while Villa will look to win a second straight when they host Bolton.
