• Allan of Everton reacts during the English Premier League match against Aston Villa at Goodison Park. EPA
    Allan of Everton reacts during the English Premier League match against Aston Villa at Goodison Park. EPA
  • Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins shoots at goal. Reuters
    Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins shoots at goal. Reuters
  • Aston Villa's English striker Ollie Watkins prepares to take a throw-in. AFP
    Aston Villa's English striker Ollie Watkins prepares to take a throw-in. AFP
  • Seamus Coleman of Everton in action against Douglas Luiz of Aston Villa. EPA
    Seamus Coleman of Everton in action against Douglas Luiz of Aston Villa. EPA
  • Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin scores to make it 1-1. Reuters
    Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin scores to make it 1-1. Reuters
  • Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins in action with Everton's Seamus Coleman. Reuters
    Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins in action with Everton's Seamus Coleman. Reuters
  • Everton's Richarlison in action. Reuters
    Everton's Richarlison in action. Reuters
  • Aston Villa's Anwar El Ghazi. Reuters
    Aston Villa's Anwar El Ghazi. Reuters
  • Aston Villa's John McGinn in action with Everton's Fabian Delph. Reuters
    Aston Villa's John McGinn in action with Everton's Fabian Delph. Reuters
  • Everton's Richarlison kicks a ball in frustration. Reuters
    Everton's Richarlison kicks a ball in frustration. Reuters
  • Aston Villa's Dutch striker Anwar El Ghazi shoots to score the winning goal. AFP
    Aston Villa's Dutch striker Anwar El Ghazi shoots to score the winning goal. AFP
  • Aston Villa's Anwar El Ghazi celebrates scoring their second goal. Reuters
    Aston Villa's Anwar El Ghazi celebrates scoring their second goal. Reuters

Ancelotti admits 'we made a lot of mistakes' as El Ghazi winner stuns Everton


Steve Luckings
  • English
  • Arabic

A stunning late winner from Aston Villa's Anwar El Ghazi condemned Everton to a 2-1 defeat to put a serious dent in the Toffees' hope of a late surge for a top-four Premier League finish.

Everton's home form has been their undoing this season with only one win out of their last 10 at Goodison.

The victory moved Villa up to ninth on 48 points, four behind eighth-placed Everton. The Toffees trail fourth-placed Chelsea by nine points with five games left to play.

Villa missed plenty of chances in an action-packed first half after Ollie Watkins fired them ahead in the 13th minute but grabbed the winner out of the blue when El Ghazi unleashed an 80th-minute thunderbolt into the top corner.

Villa manager Dean Smith was pleased with the outcome and said his team still have plenty to play for as they rekindled hopes of securing a place in Europe.

"It's easy for people to say we haven't got anything to play for but we want to finish as high as we can," Smith told the BBC. "We want to regain that momentum and consistency we had earlier in the season.

"It was a really good game of football and both teams tried to win. I think we deserved it on the balance of chances. Jordan Pickford was in really good form and denied Ollie Watkins time and time again."

Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti was frustrated after his side's poor home league form continued.

"It is difficult to say why [Everton struggle at home]," said the Italian. "It is the same team who beat Arsenal seven days ago. We of course could do better at home for sure. It is unbelievable, the run we had away and the run we had at home.

"We made a lot of mistakes at the beginning - no balance, no concentration. It was not a good evening."