Aston Villa’s push towards the Premier League summit stalled as Everton claimed a 1-0 victory at Villa Park, with Thierno Barry’s second-half goal settling a tense match and halting Villa’s long winning home run in all competitions despite a series of late chances for an equaliser.
The defeat meant Aston Villa missed the opportunity to move second in the Premier League and close on leaders Arsenal. With both Manchester City and Arsenal dropping points earlier in the weekend, Unai Emery’s side could have reduced the gap to four points but instead stayed third, seven behind the Gunners.
The decisive moment arrived on 59 minutes after a rare error from Pau Torres near the edge of the Aston Villa penalty area. Dwight McNeil seized on the loose touch
and curled a shot that Emiliano Martinez parried, but Barry reacted first and lifted a composed finish over the goalkeeper on the rebound.
Aston Villa had already survived a major scare within the opening minute. Everton surged forward straight from kick-off and Merlin Rohl fired a low effort against the base of the left post, with the ball then rebounding kindly into the grasp of Emiliano Martinez, who was relieved to see it stay out.
Everton thought they had paid for that missed chance when Aston Villa had the ball in the net on 33 minutes. Jake O’Brien powered in a header, but the assistant flagged for offside against Harrison Armstrong, who officials ruled was interfering with play from an illegal position, so the goal was cancelled.
Either side of that disallowed effort, Aston Villa built pressure on Jordan Pickford’s goal. Morgan Rogers drew a full-length save from Pickford with a driven strike, while substitute Evann Guessand, who replaced the injured John McGinn before half-time, glanced a looping header onto the crossbar as Villa finished the first half strongly.
The hosts increased the tempo after falling behind, and Everton sank deeper. Pickford produced another outstanding stop to frustrate Rogers again during a dominant spell for Aston Villa, then Emiliano Buendia headed narrowly wide in stoppage time as Emery’s team pushed hard but could not find a way past the visiting defence.
This result ended an 11-match winning sequence for Aston Villa at Villa Park in all competitions and stopped an eight-game home winning streak in the Premier League. It was only a second defeat in 29 league home fixtures, with the overall run in that period standing at 19 victories and eight draws.
Villa created enough openings to take something from the match. Aston Villa registered 18 shots, matching their highest Premier League total without scoring since October 2022 against Chelsea, also 18 attempts. Five efforts were on target, and they produced 1.36 expected goals, yet Emery’s side failed to find the net for the seventh league game this season.
That tally of scoreless Premier League outings already equals Aston Villa’s total blanks for the whole 2024-25 campaign. For Everton, the victory carried extra weight, as it was a first league success against Aston Villa since March 2016, ending a 13-game winless sequence in the Premier League that included four draws and nine defeats.
Barry’s winner continued an improving scoring run in the top flight for Everton. After managing only one goal in the first 18 Premier League appearances of the season, Barry has now struck three times across the last four league matches, emerging as a key attacking threat at an important stage of Everton’s campaign.
FT. YESSSSSS!!! Another away win for the Toffees!!! [0-1] #AVLEVE pic.twitter.com/bS5wIT8sUcEverton (@Everton) January 18, 2026
The outcome leaves Aston Villa still firmly in the Premier League title picture but facing a wider gap to Arsenal after missing a valuable opening, while Everton gain confidence from a rare league success over Villa and an away display built on resilience, opportunism and decisive finishing from Barry.
