BIRMINGHAM, England, Jan 18 : Thierno Barry scored a second-half winner as Everton ended title-chasing Aston Villa’s 11-game home winning run with a 1-0 Premier League victory at a wet Villa Park on Sunday, a result that will be celebrated in North London.
Villa stay in third place in the table on 43 points from 22 games, seven points behind leaders Arsenal, who now have a sizeable lead in the title race. Everton climb to 10th place on 32 points.
The visitors took the lead on 59 minutes when Pau Torres’s poor touch was collected by Dwight McNeil and when the latter’s shot was parried by Emi Martinez in the home goal, Barry followed up to chip the ball into the net.
“We created chances, we didn’t score,” Villa manager Unai Emery said. “They had fewer chances than us and scored. They competed fantastically. It’s the Premier League.
“They have very good players and are strong tactically. They deserved to win. We must analyse the match and keep going.”
It was a good weekend for Arsenal, the only one of the top three to secure a point following their 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest.
None of the top six teams heading into the weekend managed a win, and none of the bottom five were beaten.
“It was amazing, we worked so hard against a very good team. The lads ground it out today, we got the chance and we took it,” said Everton midfielder James Garner.
“We tried to block off the passing lanes and stop them playing through the middle, forcing them wide.”
They were denied the opener from the kick-off when a long ball from goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was met by Merlin Rohl and fired goalwards but struck the post after 11 seconds.
It was the quickest any team had hit the woodwork in a Premier League fixture since records were first kept in the 2006/07 season.
Villa also struck the woodwork just before halftime as Youri Tielemans’ deep cross was met by Evann Guessand, whose looping header came back off the crossbar.
NEWCASTLE HELD
Earlier, bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers ended Newcastle United’s three-match Premier League winning streak in a 0-0 stalemate, as the embattled hosts went unbeaten in five straight matches in all competitions for the first time this season.
The best chance of the game fell to Newcastle when Harvey Barnes’s curling ball found Nick Woltemade in front of goal but the German headed wide from close range.
Wolves moved to eight points from their 22 games, 14 points from the safety zone, while Newcastle moved above Sunderland and into eighth.
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