Everton 0-0 Aston Villa

Aston Villa were held to a draw against Everton at Goodison Park in the Premier League on Sunday.

Álex Moreno hammered home a half-volley in the first half but saw his effort ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR check.

The away side continued to dominate possession and pushed until the final minutes for a winner, with Matty Cash denied by a superb block from Vitaly Mykolenko and Jhon Duran flicking a shot inches wide.

Emi Martinez made a pair of fine saves before half-time to thwart Everton, who also saw Abdoulaye Doucoure’s late goal ruled out for offside.

Villa came into the match unbeaten in all nine Premier League meetings with the Toffees since returning to the top flight in 2019, and they fired the first shot on goal after a cagey start when Ollie Watkins called Jordan Pickford into action from a tight angle.

And the travelling fans were celebrating after 18 minutes when Moreno hammered a half-volley into the bottom corner from just outside the penalty area.

Villa’s joy was cut short, however, as VAR revealed that Leon Bailey strayed narrowly offside in the build-up.

The visitors continued to be the aggressors, and Pickford produced a fine one-handed stop to tip Bailey’s near post drive wide.

Everton had rarely troubled Villa’s backline but they would have been heading into half-time a goal up had Martinez not made two fine saves in the 45^th minute.

First, the goalkeeper stuck out a leg to deny Dominic Calvert-Lewin when the striker went clean through before parrying James Garner’s low shot around the post.

The ultra-competitive nature of the clash continued into the second half, with Everton beginning to impose themselves more on the game.

But as they pushed forwards, spaces were left at the other end, with Villa seeing John McGinn bend a shot just wide from the edge of the box.

Youri Tielemans and Durán emerged from the bench as Unai Emery looked to cause more problems for the hosts’ backline, with Cash following them onto the pitch soon after.

The changes resulted in the away side enjoying prolonged periods of pressure as the match ticked into the final ten minutes.

A flurry of chances punctuated the closing minutes as Cash was denied by Mykolenko’s last-ditch block and Durán clipped a shot narrowly wide.

Doucoure then sent the home fans wild when he raced away and tucked the ball past Martinez, only for the linesman to correctly flag him offside.