On Sunday afternoon at Walton Hall Park, Everton fell to a discouraging 2-0 loss to Aston Villa. Despite having a game in hand over their Midlands rivals after the defeat, the Blues now trail Aston Villa by four points.
With only five minutes on the clock, Everton were penalised for their slow and lethargic start. Kenza Dali’s low effort took a small deflection on the way to goal before bouncing off the inside of the post and into the back of the Everton net.
The response from Everton was positive to going behind so early, and they gained a small measure of control. After a quarter of an hour, Megan Finnigan came dangerously close to intercepting a cross from Gabby George at the back post.
Jess Park started to make room for herself behind the visitor’s midfield. Despite having her shirt pulled, she moved impressively through the centre of the field and dug out a shot from the edge of the box that Villa goalie Hannah Hampton stopped.
The first 45 minutes didn’t offer many opportunities for either team, aside from the early action. Everton struggled to regain the momentum they had previously shown before the lengthy break between games, despite improving late in the half after a sloppy start. Villa kept their advantage and went into the interval a goal up.
It took all of Hannah Hampton’s skill to prevent Rikke Sevecke from tying the score in the 63rd minute after the blues started the second half strongly. In order to keep her team ahead, Villa’s goalkeeper made a superb save as the defender rose highest to get on the end of Jess Park’s corner.
Just two minutes later, Park once more defeated her own space behind the Villa centre. With the ball, she advanced quickly before taking an ambitious shot that fell just millimetres short of the crossbar.
The toffees appeared to be on the verge of a turnaround, but they were unable to take advantage of their team’s strongest period of the game. After a costly mistake at the back, Everton conceded again in the 68th minute. The unfortunate Megan Finnigan unintentionally directed the ball into her own goal while attempting to stop a perilous low cross reaching the unmarked Villa player.
In an effort to avoid a damaging loss, Brian Sørensen made a few adjustments and brought in Nicoline Sørensen, Aurora Galli, and Elise Stenevik to the fight. However, Carla Ward’s team comfortably held out for a well deserved three points.
Everton Women are back in WSL action on Sunday the 12th of March as the face Leicester City away at the King Power Stadium. Kick off is at 3pm.
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