The match started slowly and got slower, though it was Everton who had the first chance of the match. It came from the much headlined Andrew Johnson when he broke through the middle but failed to take his shot on early enough or square it to Simon Davies, who had an open goal in front of him, and Johnson was blocked by the Villa keeper Sorensen. The game turned sour for Everton just 20minutes into the game when Tim Cahill was on the end of terrible Lee Carsley tackle, forcing the Aussie star off with a knee ligament injury and could be out for up to 4months if reports are correct. Not much happened really until the end of the half, until Gabriel Agbonlahor used his frightening pace to get him in a good position out wide. His lay back produced a fine cross from Issiah Osbourne and Chris Sutton showed the kind of goal scoring instincts that made him a top player a decade ago to cooly nod home his first goal for Villa. Everton had a fantastic chance to equalise straight after when Andy Johnson was through on goal but the England striker's shot from 8 yards struck the post and went wide.

The second half was no better than the first, although it did start off in the same manner as the first half ended. Everton came out firing and created a golden opportunity but Lee Carsley fired his shot well wide, something which looked harder to do than score. The game slowed down even more from then on with chances being rare for either side. Everton had another chance through Lee Carsley but his missed his header. Aston Villa nearly put the result beyond doubt when Gavin McCann hit a tremendous left footed shot from 25 yards, but the once again impressive Tim Howard saved extremely well despite the box being crowded. And Everton had another effort through James Beattie saved well by Sorensen. after Beattie had done well to conect so well with a volley on the move.

There was no real moments of panic for Villa and the game and the game eased out for a 1-0 win for the visitors, their first away win under Martin O'Neill. It ended a miserable week for the blues, in which they lost three matches all 1-0. And with Tim Cahill out for a potentially long spell, James McFadden suspended and James Beattie severely lacking in form, David Moyes will have to ensure that the early season confidence is not completely lost.

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