Moreno denied by VAR as gritty Everton hold Aston Villa to goalless draw

Unai Emery had eyes on joining Liverpool at the top of the Premier League but Aston Villa were unable to seize the opportunity on a dreary afternoon at Goodison Park. Alex Moreno had a fine goal disallowed following a painful VAR review but, not for the first time this season, the command and clinical touch that Villa possess in abundance on home soil was absent on their travels. This was not the performance of a title contender.

Everton ended a run of three successive league defeats with a merited point in the 212^th edition of the most played fixture in English football. Sean Dyche’s side had a glorious chance to edge ahead just before half-time but Emiliano Martínez denied Dominic Calvert-Lewin when the striker was one-on-one with the Villa goalkeeper.

Having weathered early Everton pressure Villa took control of the first half with Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara dictating proceedings from midfield. Their reward appeared to arrive in the form of a delightful goal from Alex Moreno, who swept the sweetest of shots into Jordan Pickford’s bottom left-hand corner after Luiz and Leon Bailey caught Everton with a well-worked short-corner routine. Bailey looked offside when exchanging passes with John McGinn, who teed up the left back on the edge of the penalty area. Four minutes later, VAR confirmed what the naked eye could see.

It was a ridiculous amount of time to disallow the goal, with VAR checking both the Bailey offside and whether Clement Lenglet had fouled Arnaut Danjuma as they wrestled at the corner. Villa fans responded to the infuriating pause in proceedings by singing “VAR is fucking shit”. It says everything about the technology that is seriously damaging the game, certainly for the match-going supporter, that even the Everton fans joined in with the chant when their team were the beneficiaries.

Villa created other good opportunities to break the deadlock as the hosts sat increasingly deep. Moussa Diaby sent Ollie Watkins racing into the box but the striker’s shot was blocked by the legs of Pickford. The Everton goalkeeper thwarted Villa again when producing an excellent save to tip away Bailey’s first-time effort towards the bottom corner.

Everton’s best chance of the half fell to Calvert-Lewin. The centre-forward was played clean through by an exquisite Danjuma pass but carried the weight of 12 matches without a goal on his long run towards Martínez. The World Cup winning goalkeeper stood his ground and blocked the low shot, then instantly bettered the save when tipping James Garner’s follow-up effort around a post. That was Calvert-Lewin’s only opportunity to end his goal drought. He was replaced just after the hour by Beto as Dyche attempted to re-introduce intensity and presence into the Everton attack. It was much needed.

The second half was drab by comparison. The commitment and industry of both teams could not be faulted but incident was painfully lacking, aside from a brief flare-up when James Tarkowski cleaned out Moreno while also winning the ball with a fierce challenge. Lenglet and the Everton centre-half, cut above the eye earlier in the game by a stray elbow from Watkins, were booked for their parts in the shoving match that followed. Tarkowski also caught Diaby with a similarly strong tackle inside the Everton box but neither referee David Coote nor VAR was moved by the forward’s appeals for a penalty.

Villa came closest to igniting the spectacle and winning it late on. Substitute Matty Cash looked set to score with five minutes of normal time remaining when Moreno’s low cross from the left was turned into his path eight yards out, Vitaliy Mykolenko, head bandaged after an aerial collision with Tarkowski, launched himself in the way of Cash’s shot to block superbly. The rebound fell to McGinn, but his effort also struck a royal blue shirt before being hacked away by Séamus Coleman.

A giant banner of Coleman had adorned the Gwladys Street end before kick-off. “15 years of Seamus” it read, on the day the 35-year-old broke the Premier League appearance record for Everton with his 355^th outing. A great achievement by a fantastic servant and one of the smartest transfers in Premier League history. The occasion, however, will not live long in the memory, although it could have been different had substitute Jhon Durán guided Cash’s cross inside the far post. He missed by inches and, for the first time in his Premier League career of 97 matches, Emery had presided over a goalless draw.