Fixtures
- Aston Villa Vs. Everton – Sat, Sep 14th 2024, 17:30
Emi Martínez hailed Jhon Durán’s matchwinner for Aston Villa as a Goal of the Season contender.
The second-half substitute had only been on the pitch for seven minutes when he received the ball 30 yards out, took a touch and let fly with an unstoppable swerving strike into the top corner.
It was Durán’s third Premier League goal and third winner of the season in the club’s opening four matches.
Goalkeeper Martínez was left open mouthed in disbelief and admiration amid the celebrations, with the stunning effort duly securing a 3-2 triumph over Everton.
“I think it should be contender for Goal of the Season, to be fair,” Martínez told VillaTV.
“I saw it from behind and that ball moved all over the place, ending up in the top corner.
“It surely should be at least Goal of the Month.”
Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin fired the Toffees into a two-goal lead inside the opening 27 minutes.
But Ollie Watkins responded shortly afterwards with a close-range header, his first goal of the season, before pouncing to level matters just before the hour mark.
Durán’s winner duly settled matters and deservedly secured Villa’s first home victory of the season.
“It was tough,” added Martínez.
“We know Everton, they fight until the end.
“We knew they had lost three games on the spin and coming here they needed to get at least at point.
“We dominated the first half, even though we were 2-0 down.
“It shows how far we’ve come as a club, losing 2-0 maybe two years ago, we probably lost that game, easily.
“They had chances at 2-1 as well, and 2-2, Calvert-Lewin had a one-on-one, nearly a tap-in, so it’s something we need to keep improving on in terms of the line and how we defend those things when they do long balls.
“Against Olympiacos, I think we lost the semi-final (last season) to similar qualities of the opponent.
“That’s something we need to improve and try to keep more clean sheets, but that comes from me as well.”
Unai Emery’s side have now won three of the club’s opening four matches for only the second time in the past 10 Premier League seasons.
And the three points sets Villa up nicely for Tuesday night’s mouth-watering UEFA Champions League opener against BSC Young Boys in Switzerland.
“We know the Premier League is very important, we want to have that consistency here, especially at home,” continued Martínez.
“We lost against Arsenal, we deserved a bit more from that game.
“Getting that win here means we can go to Switzerland, on an artificial pitch, a little more calm.
“But, like I said, we need to keep more clean sheets and be more consistent defensively because we know we can score goals.”
