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Despair arrived late and courtesy of goalline technology for Aston Villa at Goodison Park. Dean Smith’s side were a few minutes from a crucial and merited victory at Everton, one that would have heightened the pressure on Watford and West Ham, but Theo Walcott’s late equaliser left his players on their knees at the final whistle. Their escape route appears increasingly fraught.
The Villa manager had admitted the game was a must-win for Villa in their bid to avoid relegation and they were on course for only a third away victory of the campaign when Ezri Konsa opened the scoring late on. The visitors should have had more, Anwar El Ghazi missing a gilt-edged opportunity for a second, but Walcott’s header, awarded by the signal on referee Anthony Taylor’s watch after it just crossed the line, represented a potentially fatal blow to their survival prospects. Continue reading...