Everton won 2-1 at Villa Park on Wednesday night, eliminating Aston Villa from the Carabao Cup at the first attempt. The Villans gave one of their worst games under Unai Emery’s leadership, being sluggish and lethargic in the first half and then virtually similarly lacking in quality in the second. With a deflected shot, Boubacar Kamara managed to score, but it was too little, too late as the Toffees held on to go to the fourth round.
Early on in the game, Villa controlled possession and Youri Tielemans came near with a diving half-volley from range, but it was the visitors who quickly claimed the lead. Amadou Onana performed wonderfully to intercept a total miskick by Robin Olsen and play the ball into the path of James Garner, who took one touch before striking with force to beat Olsen at his near post. After their goal, the away crowd was very loud. Meanwhile, the home crowd became silent.
Just before the half-hour mark, Leon Bailey raised his hand and fell to the ground while gripping his thigh, forcing Emery to make a hasty substitute. The Jamaican was replaced by Nicolo Zaniolo, a summer acquisition, but even he was unable to get the Villans going because of the lethargic and inactive play, with most of the possession occurring in the defensive third. Villa Park had understandable irritation as the lack of drive to move forward became more evident.
In the 39th minute, Villa made yet another error playing out from the back, almost costing Everton a 2-0 lead. Ezri Konsa moved to the left to deal with the threat posed by Arnaut Danjuma, but his clearance effort was diverted back to the Toffees winger by Matty Cash. Jack Harrison was in the area when the Dutchman fired, and while he did manage to get a shot off, Olsen made an amazing reflex save to block it.
