Yerry Mina was the captain of the Everton, which is still going through a bad time and lost 0-1 at home to Aston Villa for the twenty-third day of the Premier League, at the Goodison Park stadium in Liverpool. This was the Colombian defender’s first game as a starter after recovering from his injury.
The first half was everything for Aston Villa. The bad moment that Everton is experiencing was reflected in the lack of offensive power, in the entire first half he did not have a single shot. The locals only defended themselves and played away from the goal guarded by Emiliano Martínez, while the visitors dominated possession of the ball and generated the best scoring options.
Yerry Mina was the leader of the local defense and was constantly demanded, responding on most plays. Those led by Steven Gerrard sought to get closer with a free kick by Douglas Luiz that went close, a shot from mid-range by Emiliano Buendía that Jordan Pickford saved, a shot inside the area by Ollie Watkins that went wide and a couple of plays by Philippe Coutinho.
On the last play of the first half, Aston Villa opened the scoring at Goodison Park. Lucas Digne, who was facing his former team for the first time, took a corner kick from the right side, which he connected Emiliano Buendía at the near post after anticipating his mark. The Argentine combed the ball and nailed the ball at the far post leaving the Everton goalkeeper with no possibility of reaction.
Everton improves but it is not enough
For the second half, the game was more closed and began to be played in the middle of the field. Everton tried to go in search of a tie, but it was not clear and it was difficult for them to generate an offensive game in the last quarter of the pitch, while Aston Villa defended the advantage and sought to take advantage of the spaces that their rival gave them to try to increase the score, but neither had effectiveness to do damage again in the goal guarded by Jordan Pickford.
With the changes, Duncan Ferguson changed the face of the Toffees a bit that little by little began to generate more scoring options. One of the clearest came from Ben Godfrey after three headers inside the box, but defender Tyrone Mings took the ball off the line. Minutes later, Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed a clear shot on the edge of the six-yard box, his shot flying high.
Yerry Mina had two headers that went very close to the Aston Villa goal. The Colombian was good defensively with ten recoveries, two clearances and three successful tackles.
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With this result, Everton remains in sixteenth place in the standings with 19 points after 5 wins, 4 draws and 11 losses. The Toffees are just five units from the relegation zone and in the next match they will face Newcastle, one of the three clubs that are in the red zone.
