Aston Villa were dealt a blow before kick off as Stephen Ireland couldn’t start the match as he picked up what seemed to be a hamstring injury with Nigel Reo-Coker replacing him.

Villa took the lead with their first attack of the afternoon in the ninth minute. Ashley Young reciving the ball and playing Luke Young through as he found a gap in the Everton defence to curl the ball past Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Everton very nearly equalised in the 17th minute as Steven Pienaar recieves the ball out wide before cutting inside and curling a shot towards the top corner but the ball hits the bar, the ball falling eventually to Jermaine Beckford who shoots first time high and wide.

After the goal Villa seemed to sit back a little and allowing Everton to attack them, with Everton unable to get the equaliser. At one stage Everton had 83% possession.

Villa had a penalty shout denied with a couple of minutes to go before half-time when Albrighton thought he was brought down unfairly in the box by Steven Pienaar.

Everton’s best chance to score came in the second half when youngster Jack Rodwell met Mikel Arteta’s free kick with a header that went just wide.

Both teams had the chance to score in the dying minutes of the match which left fans on the edge of their seats, but Villa managed to hold on to their 1-0 lead to earn their first win of the season.

Match Highlights