Aston Villa’s title hopes hit after Thierno Barry fires resolute Everton to victory

Unai Emery did not hold back. In his programme notes – at least the words were attributed to him – the Aston Villa manager turned to caps lock. “THIS MATCH IS CRUCIAL,” he said, spying an opportunity. After Arsenal and Manchester City dropped points, a golden chance to return second and cut the leaders’ advantage to four points. Everton, however, had other ideas and approaching the hour Thierno Barry pounced on a Emiliano Martínez fumble after a Pau Torres lapse to condemn Villa to a punishing defeat. They are almost unheard of around here, this only a third home league defeat since the start of last season.

For David Moyes, who bounced back from the setback of Jake O’Brien’s first-half header being disallowed because an offside Harrison Armstrong was deemed to be interfering with play, this was a major triumph. For Villa, this threatened to be a frustrating afternoon from the moment Merlin Röhl clinked a post inside 11 seconds and things went from bad to worse when John McGinn was forced off after 18 minutes. McGinn’s departure seemed to disrupt Villa, already missing another trusty pillar in Boubacar Kamara, who Emery conceded could be sidelined long term with a knee injury. The former Everton midfielder Amadou Onana was absent owing to a hamstring injury.

Villa seemed to quickly run out of ideas and the galling thing was that in Turin, two days after Donyell Malen was permitted to join Roma, a player who operated as a super-sub for much of his time at the club, scored 26 minutes into his Serie A debut, that game being played almost in parallel to Villa’s disappointing defeat. Villa wasted chances, Morgan Rogers spooning over close to the penalty spot on five minutes and Evann Guessand, who replaced McGinn, bumbling his effort when released through one-on-one with Jordan Pickford after reading Youri Tielemans’s typically superb splitting through ball.

Jake O'Brien gives Everton the lead but the goal was ruled out for offside. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images/Reuters

Guessand, to his credit, sent a header against the crossbar from a dainty Tielemans cross. Pickford was beaten. The Everton goalkeeper pulled off a fine save to keep out a speculative first-time Rogers effort with a little more than 20 minutes of normal time to play. By that point, though, Villa trailed after a catalogue of errors. The chain started when Ezri Konsa’s simple pass bounced off Torres’s right leg and into the path of Dwight McNeil, who sent a curling left-foot shot towards goal. Martínez sprawled to his right and looked to have claimed it with both hands but instead spilled the ball, presenting Barry, preferred to Beto, with the chance to nonchalantly dink in what proved to be the only goal.

Villa required a lift but from where? Guessand represented their only naturally forward-thinking player on a bench that also contained two goalkeepers, four defenders and two teenage academy midfielders, with the 18-year-old George Hemmings introduced for his home debut. Everton were also thin on options, again naming only eight substitutes, but, as in a ruthless victory at Nottingham Forest before the turn of the year, a solid defensive display was the platform for success. When Villa opened the door, Everton seized the opportunity, Barry lifting his clever finish over a desperate Martínez.