It was Frank Lampard who got to celebrate first in the meeting against old midfield antagonist Steven Gerrard. But Everton forward Anthony Gordon was offside and his goal did not count.
Instead, it was Aston Villa striker Danny Ings who would make it 1–0. Nicely played in by Ollie Watkins, the veteran spun around and thumped in the lead behind Jordan Pickford.
In the opening stages of the second half, Gerrard saw his midfield star Philippe Coutinho limp off the pitch with a suspected muscle injury.
The Aston Villa manager reacted by subbing in Argentine Emi Buendia, which would bring results. After initially seeing a ball saved on the goal line, he would extend the home team’s lead.
After carelessness in midfield by Everton new signing Amadou Onana, Buendia was able to elegantly wall himself up with Watkins to make it 2-0 in an empty net.
Just a minute later, Onana would get some personal revenge when he broke forward and saw his cross hit the back of the net after Aston Villa’s Lucas Digne scored an own goal.
This created some drama towards the end and Gordon had two great chances to equalize in stoppage time, but Emiliano Martinez stood in the way of the Villa goal and rescued three valuable points for his side.
The victory means that Aston Villa climbs up to ninth place in the table, while Everton find themselves in 16th place. Aston Villa face Crystal Palace away next Saturday and Everton visit Nottingham on the same day.