Unai Emery will be furious with Amadou Onana as his mistake gave Everton the lead against Aston Villa.
The Belgian was in the spotlight in the lead-up to the match on Saturday [14 September] as he faces his former club for the first time since his £50million move to Villa Park over the summer.
It took 16 minutes for Onana to make his impact, losing battle with Dwight McNeil who raced forward and fired an effort past Emiliano Martinez to give the visitors an unlikely lead.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin poured on the misery for Villa, doubling his side’s lead just before the half-hour mark before Ollie Watkins halved the deficit heading into half-time.
Amadou Onana costs Aston Villa against Everton
The 23-year-old has been a revelation at Villa Park this season, justifying his big-money move with two goals in his first three appearances.
However, Emery is on course to lose his second consecutive home Premier League match this season after the 2-0 loss to Arsenal before the international break and now trail by one goal against bottom-of-the-table Everton.
The Villans dominated the opening 10 minutes with Watkins and Morgan Rogers spurning chances as it looked like another long afternoon for Sean Dyche.
Watkins was able to give his side a lifeline on 36 minutes, courtesy of a Lucas Digne cross but, Villa failed to capitalise on their early dominance, and have Everton took full advantage.
With another 45 minutes to come, there’s still more than enough time left for Villa to turn things around but the home side has looked second best in a match where they should be comfortably in control.
Onana needs to regain his composure after his error, he has won just 62 per cent of his duels, completed only 19 passes in the first half, and made one error leading to a goal [Sofascore].
He has settled somewhat into the match, completing 84 per cent of his 32 passes and he has helped thwart the Everton attack with one interception and two tackles. However, it looks like the occasion has gotten the better of him in the opening 45 minutes.
Aston Villa have more than enough quality to take all three points at Villa Park but the side will need to be on their A-game in the second half as Everton have proven they can punish costly mistakes.
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