EPL: How Jagielka tamed Benteke to help Everton beat Aston Villa

Aston Villa 0-2 Everton

Everton claimed their second straight Premier League victory at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon, withRomelu Lukaku netting the winner midway through the second half for the visitors before Leon Osman put the result beyond doubt 10 minutes from time. Christian Benteke looked primed to give the Villans an early advantage from the penalty spot but saw himself denied by an inspired Tim Howard, and the Toffees went on to outlast their rivals on the day to walk away with a crucial three points as they continue their quest for European football next season.

Key Stats:

Everton saw the majority of the ball with 53% possession over the 90 minutes, but certainly adopted a more measured approach in the second half after looking susceptible to the counterattack in the opening 45 minutes and allowed Villa more time on the ball.

Both sides weren’t particularly impressive in distribution, the hosts’ managing to complete just 72% of their passes whilst the Toffees were on target 78% of the time, Roberto Martinez’s men distinguishing themselves in chances created with eight key passes to the six made by Paul Lambert’s charges.

Ultimately Everton’s more ruthless finishing and last-ditch defending proved the difference as they managed to net twice from 15 shots as Villa failed to score on 13 of their own, the Toffees registering an astronomical 43 clearances to aid in picking up a clean sheet.

Man of the Match:

The England international epitomised no-nonsense defending in dealing well with the dangerous Benteke, racking up 14 clearances, winning seven of seven headed duels, and making three tackles en route to a Performance Score of 73.

Jagielka never shied away from challenging the Belgian in the formative stages of Villa’s attacks, with the majority of his tackles and interceptions coming close to the half-way line as he was pivotal in not allowing the hosts’ talismanic striker to hold up play and allow attacks to develop en masse, whilst remaining vigilant in the penalty area to boot clearance-wise.

Performance Score:

Everton led from start to finish in Performance Score, making use of their dominance in possession in the first half, and strong defending to pair with clinical finishing in the second to come out on top.

Howard’s penalty stop on Benteke provided the initial separation of note just prior to the 19 minute mark, whilst Villa stuck close with their adversaries in the subsequent minutes but found themselves down 147-31 heading into the break following a late first half surge from the Toffees.

The hosts saw more of the ball coming out of the gate in the closing 45 minutes, yet Perfomance Scores remained fairly static for each side as neither could truly gain the upper hand.

Once Lukaku struck, however, Everton were well in the ascendancy and continued to press home their advantage to see Osman net his insurance strike on 81 minutes, Villa never recovering as the visitors finished with a rather massive Performance Score of 346 to their disappointing tally of -53.

Key Observations:

Osman’s introduction on the hour mark looks a master stroke from Martinez, as the veteran midfielder proved the difference in providing the assist for Lukaku’s opener and firing home the second goal himself notch a Performance Score of 55 in only 30 minutes.

The 32-year-old excelled where Ross Barkley had somewhat struggled for much of the match, playing the key ball for the Belgian to slot past Brad Guzan whilst the youngster failed to create a single chance despite spending double the amount of time on the pitch.

Benteke had ample opportunities to score early doors but was stymied by Howard, who looked in top form when called into action to make each of his three saves.

The American’s trio of stops came on Villa’s only three shots that weren’t blocked to come inside the penalty area, with the hosts struggling to consistently find space to shoot inside the 18-yard box, whistling six shots wide of the mark from distance as a result.