Aston Villa squandered a golden opportunity to go within just four points of Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday, as they were beaten 1-0 by Everton at Villa Park
Furious Unai Emery admitted Aston Villa blew a “very good opportunity” as their title hopes took a major blow. Emery looked visibly angry as Everton striker Thierno Barry’s sensational finish ended Villa’s run of 11 straight home wins in all competitions.
Villa boss Emery also suffered another major injury blow as captain John McGinn went off with a knee injury as they failed to close the gap on leaders Arsenal. Emery said: “We lost a very good opportunity. We lost the chance to be second, which is really fantastic.
“After feeling frustrated losing this match, we must recover our good positive way that we are doing. We created chances, we didn’t score. They had fewer chances than us and scored. They competed fantastically.
“It’s the Premier League. We are not a contender to be in the top four like we are now. They have very good players and are strong tactically. They deserved to win. We must analyse the match and keep going.”
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Emery admitted that he does not know the extent of McGinn’s injury but also suggested they may have to look at the market with England striker Tammy Abraham on their radar. Villa already have Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana out. Emery added: “Of course when some players are getting injured, it is not good. It is football and we have to accept it.
“It is another opportunity for other players to play. We have enough players to get the performance we need. Of course, we must replace players who are leaving. We must keep working and thinking how we can improve.”
Everton boss David Moyes praised his players at both ends of the pitch as they could have won more comfortably after seeing Jake O’Brien’s goal controversially ruled out because VAR deemed Harrison Armstrong was offside and interfering with play.
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Moyes said: “It was a great finish. Did I expect it? I wasn’t sure. He was able to lift it over the goalkeeper and get us that important goal.
“From the dug-out, I couldn’t tell if it was over the line but with the other decisions going against us, they’d have found a way to say it hadn’t gone in. It was incredibly satisfying. It was a brilliant performance – especially with what we had coming here. It looked a big challenge with the players we had out.
“It was an all round really good team performance and we had to work hard to do a job when you look at Villa’s form and how they’ve played. It wasn’t just putting 11 players out there and turning up. We put a lot more work into it than that.”
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
