John Townley's Aston Villa player ratings vs Everton after Jhon Duran stunner seals dramatic 3-2 win
Jhon Duran came off the bench to score a stunning winner for Aston Villa as Unai Emery’s side fought back from two goals behind to beat Everton 3-2 at Villa Park.
Villa found themselves two behind after goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin inside 27 minutes, before Ollie Watkins halved the deficit going into the break. The striker then scored his and Villa’s second of the night on the hour mark to draw level, but it was Duran who stole the headlines after thumping the ball past Jordan Pickford from range.
Amadou Onana, who was robbed of the ball by McNeil before the Everton forward opened the scoring, was replaced at the break for Ross Barkley. Villa started the second half like they ended the first, on top and looking dangerous in the final third.
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Lamare Bogarde played Morgan Rogers in on goal early in the second period, but the forward’s strike at goal was saved by Pickford. Jacob Ramsey couldn’t sort his feet out to get another shot off at goal.
Down the other end, Calvert-Lewin should have doubled Everton’s lead after running clear on goal, but he hesitated, allowing Ezri Konsa to make a crucial intervention. The flag stayed down, but VAR may have called Calvert-Lewin offside anyway if he had scored.
Watkins then bagged his second of the night from close range as Jack Harrison failed to clear the ball inside the Everton box after Youri Tielemans hooked it over their backline.
Watkins squandered a great opportunity to bag his hat-trick when Ian Maatsen came off the bench, but minutes later Duran came up with a goal of the season contender by finding the top corner from around 30 yards out.
Villa take on Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday night (5:45pm kick-off) in Bern, before returning to Premier League action next Saturday against Wolves at Villa Park.
Player ratings
Emi Martinez
Martinez was beaten by McNeil from the edge of the box, before Calvert-Lewin headed in from close range to double Everton's lead. 6
Lamare Bogarde
The Dutch youngster kept his place in the starting XI after making his Premier League debut in the win over Leicester City two weeks ago. In what was only his second appearance in the top-flight, he struggled at times against tricky Everton forward Iliam Ndiaye in the first half. Bogarde played a brilliant pass into Rogers' path early in the second half, but the forward couldn't beat Pickford. 6
Ezri Konsa
Konsa won all of his ground duels tonight and recorded a passing accuracy of over 90 per cent. His tackle on Calvert-Lewin may well have stopped Everton going 3-1 up. 7
Pau Torres
Torres struggled to deal with Calvert-Lewin's physicality, but was crucial when Villa were building with the ball. 6
Lucas Digne
Digne put in some searching crosses from the left and grabbed an assist for the second game running by teeing up Watkins to head in. 7
Amadou Onana
Onana, who joined Villa from Everton in a club record £50m deal in July, came up against his former employers tonight. He was at fault for Everton's opening goal as he was robbed by McNeil before the winger struck past Martinez. Onana was replaced by another former Toffee Ross Barkley at the break. 5
Youri Tielemans
The Belgian was Villa's chief creator in midfield, trying to pick the lock when Everton sat behind the ball. He kept the ball moving quickly as Villa looked to drag Everton defenders out of positions to create opportunities. It was his pass which led to Villa's second goal as Harrison failed to clear his lines. 8
John McGinn
McGinn operated from the right in the absence of Bailey and came up against former teammate Ashley Young when the full-back shifted over to the left side of the Everton defence in the first half. 6
Jacob Ramsey
Ramsey made his first start of the season tonight after three impressive appearances off the bench last month. He was bright in patches and combined well with Rogers. 6
Morgan Rogers
The 22-year-old had a few shots at goal, but didn't really test Pickford. He picked up dangerous positions and showed his quality to threaten the Everton backline. He was a constant threat. 7
Ollie Watkins
Watkins made his 150th Premier League appearances tonight and capped it with his first two goals of the season. He came into the game having failed to score in his last eight league games, but it was a matter of time before he opened his account for the campaign. He had a couple of chances to get a hat-trick. Back among the goals! 8*
SUBS
Ross Barkley (for Onana, 45'): Barkley helped Villa control the second period in Everton's half alongside Tielemans. 7
Ian Maatsen (for Digne, 69'): Maatsen is a different profile of left-back to Digne and wants to get to the byline at every opportunity. He made a great chance for Watkins in the 70th minute, but the striker pulled his effort wide from inside the box. 6
Jhon Duran (for Watkins, 69'): The kid has got it all. At 20 years of age, he's right up there among the most exciting young strikers in Europe. 8
Emi Buendia (for Watkins, 84'): N/A
Jaden Philogene (for McGinn, 90'): N/A
Subs not used: Gauci, Nedeljkovic, Carlos, Young.
GOALS
Aston Villa: Watkins (36', 58'), Duran (76')
Everton: McNeil (16'), Calvert-Lewin (27')