Diniyar Bilyaletdinov ((45 + 1 mins) mins)
John Carew (47 mins)
Barclays Premier League
, Oct 31, 2009
Ground: Goodison Park
, Kickoff: 14:00 , Att 36,648
Team news
Everton preview
Everton could be without 10 senior players for their Barclays Premier League match against Aston Villa.
Defender Leighton Baines is poised to return from a calf injury, while striker Louis Saha, who has a similar problem, will be given time to prove his fitness.
Ayegbeni Yakubu is in contention for a place in the starting XI after overcoming his heel problem to play against Tottenham on Tuesday, while Joseph Yobo, who did not feature, could return after suffering concussion.
Ahead of the game, manager David Moyes revealed his decision to not speak to the media after Everton's Carling Cup defeat to Tottenham was the only way he could make his feelings clear about fixture congestion.
Moyes did not attend the press conference at White Hart Lane after Everton's 2-0 defeat there on Tuesday, a fixture which was the team's third away match - and defeat - in six days.
With the Toffees having played at Bolton on Sunday, Moyes felt it was unfair that his players were not allowed the same recovery period as their opponents, who played Stoke on Saturday.
"It would have given us an opportunity to recover the players," said Moyes.
"That's the normal sort of thing you might do, play Saturday then Tuesday or Sunday then Wednesday.
"That would be the normal recovery time for most teams to make it relatively fair - and it wasn't fair.
"Tottenham had the chance to play on Saturday and we had to play on Sunday and then Tuesday.
"People have said that I'm whingeing about it - I hope I'm not.
"When I tried not to talk about it, it wasn't to affect the media in any way.
"It was my only chance to put over a point which wasn't getting heard by the people who were organising the tournament."
Aston Villa preview
Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel could make his 200th successive appearance.
Friedel is likely to replace Brad Guzan even though his fellow American made three penalty shoot-out saves in the midweek Carling Cup win over Sunderland.
Defender Stephen Warnock is battling to overcome an ankle injury suffered against the Black Cats and Nicky Shorey could deputise if he is ruled out.
Striker Emile Heskey and midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker picked up knocks but Villa manager Martin O'Neill is hopeful of having them available.
John Carew and Steve Sidwell, who made way for the duo at the Stadium of Light, will be in contention for a recall to the starting line-up.
Martin O'Neill believes Everton will come to terms with the loss of star defender Joleon Lescott in the same way as Aston Villa recovered from the retirement of skipper and centre-back Martin Laursen.
The Toffees have made a stuttering start to the current campaign following Lescott's departure to Manchester City in a #24million move, after edging out Villa and finishing fifth in the Barclays Premier League last season.
Villa also struggled to cope after Laursen was ruled out of the second half of last season with a knee injury before hanging up his boots, until they replaced him with Richard Dunne and James Collins two months ago. O'Neill is a big admirer of Saturday's opponents and expects them to be challenging them again for a European spot by the time the season reaches its climax.
The former Celtic boss said: "It's been a really tough start for them. They were involved in the UEFA Cup and the last thing you want to do is have upheaval (with Lescott) particularly at that stage of the season.
"But I would say that they have shown a great resilience in the last couple of seasons. I thought by their own standards last season they got off to a stodgy start and I don't think that they could win at home for a while.
Everton vs Aston Villa
Last modified 22:04 31/10/09
Sunday Mirror match report by Soriebah Kajue
John Carew must already be looking at the fixture list to see when he plays against Everton next.
The burly Norwegian is not what you would call a prolific striker, but that could all change if he was allowed to face David Moyes’ team every week.
After summoning his totemic striker from the bench after the interval, manager Martin O’Neill was rewarded as Carew bagged his fourth goal in his last four games against Everton.
O’Neill admitted: “We got back into it early in the second-half and I thought that we would go on to win it. But on reflection a draw was a fair result.”
Moyes, though, must be worried about his team who have not won in their last six games.
He said: “We nullified Aston Villa quite well, but I didn’t think we were able to play our game because we were missing one or two players that can create things for us.”
This time it was not quite the horror show that Halloween begged for, but it came close, with Everton’s horrific injury list still reading like a Who’s Who of the club’s stars.
Phil Neville, Mikel Arteta, Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar are all still on the sidelines.
But the players who were present stood up and counted.
It was after Ashley Young’s last-minute wonder goal last season – condemning them to a 3-2 defeat – that acted as a catalyst for their 23-game unbeaten run which catapulted them to the FA Cup Final.
How Moyes must wish for a repeat of that.
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov scored his second goal in two home games to give the Blues a deserved lead as the first-half drifted into the dying embers.
Cahill made a mockery of Richard Dunne’s size as he outmuscled him and crossed for Yabuku.
His first touch fell perfectly for Bilyaletdinov who calmly slotted past Friedel. But the Russian then blotted his copybook with a rash tackle on Stilian Petrov in the 86th minute. His red card will leave Moyes’ squad further stretched.
Villa were reinvigorated after the interval and Carew and Emile Heskey really extended the Everton back-line.
Steve Sidwell had an early header before Stephen Warnock volleyed wide, but it was Carew who snatched the equaliser with his first touch sweeping the ball in after Howard blocked a Gaby Agbonlahor shot.
Villa, though, had their momentum halted when Carlos Cuellar was given his marching orders for a second yellow after a foul on Louis Saha.
At the end of the day a draw really was the fairest result.
And on the two dismissals O’ Neill said: “I’ve had the benefit of seeing them back again. I think it’s pretty clear he got the first decision absolutely correct. I think it’s a really nasty challenge and I think it’s straight forward.
“And I think he got the second one wrong. I thought at the time that Carlos got a touch on the ball and I’ve seen it back and it was the case.
“However, I’ve said before how difficult it is for referees but coming so soon after the other incident I can’t say I was overly impressed.”
| Player rating out of ten | Player name | Substitution | Did they score? | Player's disciplinary record | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Tim Howard | ||||
| 23 | Lucas Neill | ||||
| 4 | Joseph Yobo | ||||
| 15 | Sylvain Distin | ||||
| 3 | Leighton Baines | ||||
| 17 | Tim Cahill |
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| 26 | Jack Rodwell | ||||
| 5 | Johnny Heitinga | ||||
| 7 | Diniyar Bilyaletdinov |
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| 25 | Marouane Fellaini(sub 71) |
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| 22 | Ayegbeni Yakubu(sub 90) |
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| Substitutes | |||||
| 1 | Carlo Nash | ||||
| 8 | Louis Saha(sub 71) |
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| 11 | Joao Alves Jo(sub 90) |
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| 19 | Dan Gosling | ||||
| 31 | Seamus Coleman | ||||
| 34 | Shane Duffy | ||||
| 35 | Keiran Agard | ||||
| Player rating out of ten | Player name | Did they score? | Player's disciplinary record | Substitution | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brad Friedel | ||||
| 24 | Carlos Cuellar |
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| 5 | Richard Dunne | ||||
| 29 | James Collins | ||||
| 25 | Stephen Warnock |
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| 8 | James Milner(sub 45) |
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| 19 | Stiliyan Petrov(sub 90) |
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| 4 | Steve Sidwell | ||||
| 7 | Ashley Young | ||||
| 18 | Emile Heskey | ||||
| 11 | Gabriel Agbonlahor | ||||
| Substitutes | |||||
| 22 | Bradley Guzan | ||||
| 2 | Luke Young | ||||
| 10 | John Carew(sub 45) |
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| 16 | Fabian Delph | ||||
| 20 | Nigel Reo-Coker(sub 90) |
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| 21 | Nicky Shorey | ||||
| 23 | Habib Beye | ||||
| Team | Everton | Aston Villa |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | ||
| Shots on target | 8 | 4 |
| Shots off target | 5 | 5 |
| Corner | 4 | 3 |
| Fouls | 16 | 16 |
| Crosses | 4 | 5 |
