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Emery – Emi Martinez ‘fantastic’ on return
Unai Emery’s frustration was palpable as he gestured in dismay towards his staff, reflecting Aston Villa’s ongoing struggles in attack.
The match marked an unwanted milestone for Villa, as they failed to score in their opening four league games for the first time in their history.
In a lackluster goalless draw against Everton, Villa were arguably fortunate to escape with a point, having been largely outplayed.
David Moyes’ Everton dominated proceedings at Goodison Park, leaving Emery indebted to the outstanding performance of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, returning from injury, and to Everton striker Beto’s lack of sharpness in front of goal.
Beto squandered two clear opportunities, miskicking in front of an open goal early on and failing to connect properly with a close-range cross in the second half.
While Martinez’s excellent save from Michael Keane’s header ensured a point for Villa, Emery would have been concerned by the overall performance, despite his positive comments after the match.
Emiliano Buendia’s deflected shot wide in the second half was the only moment that truly ignited the Villa supporters.
This season has been a worrying start for Villa, who narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification last season and harbored similar ambitions this campaign.
They have yet to score a goal, accumulating just two points from goalless draws against Newcastle United and Everton, while suffering defeats against Brentford and Crystal Palace.
Villa join a list of only five teams in Premier League history who have failed to score in their opening four league games.
This also marks the first time Villa have failed to score in five consecutive Premier League games since a run in 2014-2015.
Emery’s concern will be that Villa never seriously threatened to break their goal-scoring drought. Their trademark intensity and attacking vibrancy were notably absent.
At the same stage last season, Villa had scored seven goals and registered 16 significant chances, according to Opta. This season, they have only managed four such opportunities in four games.
While Emery attempted to emphasize the positives, this has been a disappointing start for a club with high aspirations.
The Villa manager stated: “We competed very well. The goalkeeper Emi Martinez came back and played a fantastic match.”
“He saved us a lot of times. He made us confident we could play with our identity. Of course, we need defence and a lot of corners and a throw-in defence compact like we did. We need to get more confidence to play with the ball.”
Martinez’s performance likely improved his standing with Villa fans, who had voiced their discontent when his hoped-for transfer failed to materialize during the summer window.
Emery acknowledged Villa’s offensive struggles, stating: “Tactically we have to try to help offensively to try to get better positions.”
Speaking to BBC’s Match of the Day, he added: “Offensively we need more. We need to try to help out strikers, wingers and midfielders, but I’m happy because we competed and this it the first step forward.”
“We are going to work and we know inside the problem we have.”
Ollie Watkins led the Villa attack but remained largely anonymous until his substitution late in the game, a consequence of limited service.
Harvey Elliott, Villa’s deadline-day loan signing from Liverpool, was introduced to inject dynamism into the attack, but his late appearance couldn’t salvage the performance.
Morgan Rogers, recently impressive for England, failed to make an impact, leaving Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with little to do beyond routine handling and late clearances.
Everton pushed for a win, ultimately undone by their own lack of clinical finishing, while Villa settled for a point.
However, Emery will be concerned that this represents Villa’s worst start to a Premier League season since 1997-98.
The experienced Emery will be aware of the challenges and will need to address the team’s glaring weakness quickly, with an away match against Brentford in the Carabao Cup followed by a challenging league fixture against newly-promoted Sunderland.
On current form, Villa appear a shadow of the team that performed so well last season and came close to securing Champions League qualification.
Beto misses chances as Everton held by Villa
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