The great Aston Villa goal drought continues. Five months ago, they were scoring three and threatening to get more against a Paris Saint-Germain side en route to winning the Champions League. Now Villa are the only club in England’s top seven tiers without a goal. For the first time in their history, they have failed to score in their opening four league games. A second stalemate of the season illustrated how a team who could look irresistible have lost their potency. “We will score again,” vowed Unai Emery. It was the sort of statement he didn’t need to make a few months ago.
Their saviour at the new Hill Dickinson Stadium was the man who, if he had his way, would have been preparing for a Manchester derby instead. Villa owed their second point of the season to Emi Martinez. After a deadline day spent waiting for a move for Manchester United that never happened, after Emery gave a bizarre interview before the defeat to Crystal Palace that consisted of repeating the name of his other goalkeeper, Marco Bizot, Martinez was restored and reintegrated with at least some relationships rebuilt.
The World Cup winner was only United’s second choice, as they preferred to buy the uncapped Belgian Senne Lammens instead. The familiar Villa chorus of “the world’s No 1” came after an agile save from Michael Keane. There had been earlier examples of excellence, too, a header from a perhaps offside Beto clawed away, a deflected shot from Jack Grealish repelled with his trailing leg. Martinez and Villa may be stuck with one another, but Emery sounded grateful. “His comeback has been fantastic,” he said. “It is very good news that Emiliano Martinez is back. He played a fantastic match. We need him.”
Villa had a mix of the old and new, with a couple of oddities. The substitute Harvey Elliott’s debut came in the No 9 shirt last worn by Marcus Rashford. Another replacement, Victor Lindelof, made his bow in midfield. A third September acquisition, Jadon Sancho, did not get on at all, trading the United bomb squad for a plush seat as an unused substitute.
Both the teamsheet and the performance hinted at the unsatisfactory nature of it all. Villa have lost their spark. Perhaps it is a consequence in part of seasons of 56 and 57 games, of being unable to strengthen, of the draining effect of Emery’s intensity. Lacking energy and inspiration, they looked a group who have lost their way. Certainly, they have fewer goals without Rashford, Marco Asensio and Jhon Duran.
Emery fielded a side without pace on the flanks, who rarely brought Ollie Watkins into the game. PSG would not have been running scared of this side. Emery started the mediocre Lamine Bogarde and picked Emi Buendia, who had not started a Premier League game since May 2023. There was a makeshift feel, compounded when Youri Tielemans went off injured at half time. At least they were spared defeat. “This point is something important after how we were,” added Emery.
They never seemed capable of getting three. Everton are yet to concede at their new home and Villa had a lone effort on target, while Buendia contrived to bend a shot wide of an unguarded goal, and an xG of 0.31. Whereas there were no 0-0 draws in the first four years at Goodison Park, a 21st-century ground saw one in the third match.
And if that reflected well on Martinez, it reflected badly on Beto. The Villa defender Ezri Konsa delivered an instructive assessment of his immediate opponent’s performance. “He was a handful at times, but for me, he was alright,” said the England international. Beto’s profligacy was a reason Everton failed to turn dominance into a third straight league win. Indeed, Keane, a nuisance in the Villa box, looked likelier to find the net. “On another day, I would have scored,” rued the defender.
Whereas Villa were ponderous, Everton were positive. “We had the best of it and feel a bit unlucky not to come away with three points,” said David Moyes. He believes Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Grealish have added another dimension with their ability to run at defenders. “The players put in a brilliant performance,” he added. What they lacked was a finishing touch; if everything went their way against Brighton, it did not here.
For Grealish, the newly anointed Premier League player of the month, there was no hat-trick of games with two assists. In his first game as a 30-year-old, Grealish provided more key passes, statistics showed, than the entire Villa side, but none led to a goal.
He was targeted at times by his fellow Villa fans, though the taunts may have been underpinned by envy. If they were to get a loanee on sizeable wages, they may have preferred Grealish to Sancho. But the predictable chant was: “You’re not super any more”. Their more immediate problem is that Villa definitely aren’t. A side who touched the heights at times last season feel distinctly mediocre right now.
Discussion about this post