Aston Villa 1, Everton 0: Mat Kendrick's big match verdict
Aug 30 2010 By Mat Kendrick
Aston Villa 1 Everton 0
WANTED: Aston Villa Football Club manager. Must enjoy organising strolls in the park in Birmingham, and successful field trips around the country.
Passport and love of European travel is not needed – yet.
Premier League experience is a necessity (even three games, Kev), as is a thick skin and a fondness for working with young talent.
Not for the faint-hearted. Bob Bradley need not apply.
Contact Randy Lerner and Paul Faulkner c/o AVFC, Villa Park, Birmingham, B6.
Now that Villa have finally restored some of the feelgood factor from a fortnight ago, the board can fully turn their attentions to the new manager search.
And their hopes of recruiting that outstanding candidate to succeed Martin O’Neill will surely have been helped by the spirit the claret and blues showed against Everton.
Having conceded nine goals in their previous two games, Villa’s backline had to stand up strong to keep Everton at bay.
Apart from one sliced clearance the returning Richard Dunne was his dependable self and even took one for the team to halt Jermaine Beckford’s run at goal – at the expense of a booking – after a mistake by James Collins.
With the interchangeable Everton midfield five popping up in pockets of space Villa needed to keep their concentration from first whistle until last and on the occasions when they were breached Brad Friedel came to the rescue.
Anybody after a snapshot of the barrage of pressure Villa had to cope with needs only take a quick glimpse of the corner count which Everton won 18-4. But the only stat that mattered was 1-0 to Kevin MacDonald’s men and the decisive strike by man of the match Luke Young was a more than worthy winner.
If Young’s goal is the clincher that gets Kev the job then it will be quite fitting as MacDonald more than anyone helped the popular defender cope with his frustration during his long spells of inactivity under O’Neill.
The former Tottenham and Middlesbrough right-back spent hour after hour training with MacDonald’s reserves after being frozen out by O’Neill – and whatever the caretaker taught him clearly paid off.
Young started and finished the game’s only goal on nine minutes when he worked the ball forward down the right and profited from John Carew’s nod down and an exquisite pass from Ashley Young to continue his forward run and spank a left-foot cracker into the top corner.
To say the goal was against the run of play was an understatement.
Everton dominated for long spells and it was no surprise to see David Moyes leave Villa Park with a face like miserable Mo the bar tender from The Simpsons.
