Emiliano Martinez came up with some big stops as Aston Villa frustrated Everton in a 0-0 draw at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday.
The Toffees had the better of the opportunities throughout, but when they did find a way through a stubborn Villa defence, David Moyes’ team found goalkeeper Martinez in top form.
Michael Keane headed over the bar, while former Villa star Jack Grealish sent a well-struck volley straight at Martinez in the first half.
Villa absorbed the pressure but offered little in attack, with Martinez making a superb stop to tip a Keane header over in the second half, before the Everton centre-back nodded wide from a Grealish cross late on.
Unai Emery’s side remain the only Premier League team yet to score a goal this season as they moved onto two points in 19th place, while Everton have seven points from their first four matches.
How the match unfolded
Everton began with a barrage of decent chances, with the in-form Grealish pulling the strings.
Grealish first floated a clever cross for Beto, whose header was kept out by Martinez before the flag was raised, and the Manchester City loanee might have opened the scoring himself when a stinging drive was blocked by Villa’s goalkeeper.
Villa received a let-off just before half-time when Youri Tielemans nearly turned an Everton corner into his own net, only for it to roll harmlessly wide.
Beto fluffed a close-range finish off a bouncing James Garner cross shortly after the interval, while Emiliano Buendia nearly broke the deadlock with a 20-yard strike that deflected off James Tarkowski and looped wide.
The Toffees continued knocking on the door as Martinez parried a dangerous cross from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall straight to Jake O’Brien, whose follow-up was promptly blocked.
Grealish then created two identical chances, clipping delightful crosses into the box for Keane, only for Martinez to react with stunning reflexes the first time before the defender headed off target for the second.
Lack of cutting edge costs the Toffees
After winning the first Premier League fixture at their new Hill Dickinson Stadium, 2-0 against Brighton & Hove Albion, Everton were unable to make the most of their goalscoring opportunities this time out.
This was despite Grealish continuing his fine creative form with another impressive outing, this time against his boyhood club, as he was central to most of the Toffees’ play.
Minutes before Grealish volleyed at Martinez, Everton should have taken the lead as Keane headed narrowly over the bar from Dewsbury-Hall’s set-piece delivery.
Beto and his replacement Thierno Barry could have done better with their second-half openings, before Grealish produced two moments of magic that, on another day, might have resulted in Everton taking all three points.
Having been denied by Martinez with his first chance teed up by Grealish, Keane will be disappointed he could not score from the second, heading off target in the closing stages when he had much of the goal to aim at.
Next up for Everton is a short trip to face the champions and their fierce local rivals, Liverpool, at Anfield.
Martinez heroics spare Villa’s blushes
Villa rolled into this outing low on confidence, having picked up just one point from their opening three Premier League fixtures.
Despite a favourable record against Everton, having won four of their last five top-flight meetings, Villa did not live up to the high standards they have set themselves under Emery, who was without several key players due to injury.
Yet one of their stalwarts came up with the star display.
Martinez sat out Villa’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace last time out, but after a mooted deadline-day move to Manchester United failed to materialise, the Argentina international was back in the side here, and Villa will be thankful for that.
The highlight was his reflex save to tip over Keane’s powerful header in the second half, as Everton upped the pressure.
While Martinez’s return provided a sense of security at the back, the Villans’ struggles in attack persisted, though.
Their best chances of the afternoon came from two Buendia efforts - first, a hopeful 45-yard punt that zipped past the post, and then a strike from the edge of the area that sliced wildly off Tarkowski.
Emery’s side will hope their scoring issues begin to fade when they face Brentford in the EFL Cup third round midweek before travelling to newly promoted Sunderland next weekend.
Club reports
Everton report | Aston Villa report
What the managers said
David Moyes: "We made a lot of real good opportunities. We were intense and on the front foot nearly the whole game.
"The team played really well, so no complaints. Just the finishing..."
Unai Emery: (On lack of goals) "Tactically we have to try to help offensively, to try to get into better positions.
"We need to improve the last pass and be more clinical."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Everton (111) and Aston Villa (110) have featured in more 0-0 draws than any other sides in Premier League history.
Only Everton versus Liverpool (12) has finished 0-0 in the Premier League more often than Everton versus Aston Villa, with today being the ninth goalless draw between the clubs in the competition.
Villa have failed to score in their first four league games of a season for the first time in their history. Meanwhile, they’re the fifth side to do so in the Premier League after Sheffield Wednesday (1993/94), Newcastle United (2005/06), Swansea City (2011/12) and Crystal Palace (2017/18).
Villa have failed to score in five consecutive Premier League games for the first time since a run of six between December 2014 and February 2015.