By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Everton first match of the post-Rafa Benitez era began with a 1-0 Premier League defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday amid a tense atmosphere at Goodison Park where the visiting team were hit by missiles thrown from the crowd.
A lively first half ended with Emilliano Buendia scoring with a flicked header that arced over Jordan Pickford in goal and the provocative celebrations led to a bottle being launched from the stands and hitting the Villa players.
Lucas Digne who was booed by Everton fans on his return to Goodison Park since last week’s transfer, provided the assist and he was also hit by an object, with stewards and police trying to identify the perpetrators.
Duncan Ferguson, in interim charge at Everton for a second time after his brief caretaker stint in 2019, had asked his players to show “fight and determination” but scoring opportunities were in short supply in the first half.
Winger Anthony Gordon’s introduction greatly improved Everton’s attack in the second half but his team mates failed to convert his delightful crosses into the box as Villa held on to provisionally move up to 10th with 26 points.
Everton are 16th on 19 points, five points above the relegation zone, having secured one league win since September.
Their sorry state was highlighted by a banner flown over the stadium with the words “22 years of failure Bill,” aimed at club chairman Bill Kenwright.
Everton have released a statement regarding the bottle-throwing incident:
Everton and police were able to identify the individual after analysing CCTV footage from Goodison Park.
“Police have arrested a supporter at Goodison Park for throwing a missile onto the pitch during today’s Premier League match against Aston Villa,” an Everton club statement read.
“Several objects were thrown towards the pitch following Aston Villa’s goal at the end of the first half, with one missile appearing to strike two opposition players.
“Investigations in conjunction with the police are ongoing, and the club will issue bans to any fans identified throwing objects.”
A tannoy announcement heard during the second half at Goodison Park said: “This is a club safety announcement. Should anyone be found throwing bottles or any other items on the pitch you will be arrested and banned from the club.”
Duncan Ferguson talks to BT. “First half we were a wee bit off it, maybe a wee bit of stage-fright. But I thought the second half, the boys gave everything. We just needed that wee but of quality in the final third. The effort was there, I couldn’t fault them in any shape or form. I tried my best, we made a few changes. I don’t think the fans will be complaining about the team’s effort today, the second half particularly we gave it a right good go. I’ll carry on until the new manager comes in. That’s it.” As for the bottle-throwing incident: “The punters shouldn’t be doing that.”
Steven Gerrard’s . “It’s a big win for us. Really important, especially for the players. It was a different style of win, a case of us having to roll our sleeves up, stand up and be counted, really put our bodies on the line. It’s difficult to rehearse what came our way in the second half. It was direct, it was coming regular, and we had to fight and compete. Every single person stood up to it. There’s different ways to win, but one thing’s certain, if you don’t compete, especially away at Goodison, you’ll get found out. We expected Duncan to throw more petrol on the fire … but we played big today. That was about grit and steel.”