Everton drew 0-0 against Aston Villa in English Premier League
David Moyes remains confident despite goalless draw with Aston Villa
Everton dominated but failed to score from 20 shots
Beto squandered key opportunities, raising concerns over finishing
David Moyes is unconcerned about his side’s attacking resources, including striker Beto, despite Everton being held to a goalless draw by Aston Villa.
The Toffees dominated from the outset at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday but lacked a cutting edge, running into an inspired performance from Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Michael Keane, making his 200th Premier League appearance for Everton, was left to rue a series of missed opportunities, sending three efforts off-target while Martinez denied him too, with the defender twice set up by the in-form Jack Grealish late in the second half.
Everton striker Beto, meanwhile, squandered two golden opportunities either side of the break.
Despite seeing Everton fail to score from 20 shots and 2.17 expected goals, their highest xG total in a Premier League match since January 2024, Moyes maintains he is not worried about his attack.
“If anybody was going to win it, it was us,” Moyes told BBC Sport. “We played well, it was a great performance, we played with a lot of intensity. Aston Villa defended very well.
“A manager’s job is to raise expectations, that’s part of it. Everybody here is aware of where we came from. We’re trying to build a new team in the new stadium.
“The team played so well, with a real front-foot attitude. We just couldn’t get that goal.
“I’ve said many times, we don’t buy £70m strikers. We’ve got two really good forwards who are learning their trade and will improve.
“Beto’s been fantastic, he’s had two good chances today and didn’t score – but I don’t know many strikers who go through periods where they don’t miss.”
Moyes singled out Iliman Ndiaye and Grealish, who created a game-leading five chances, for specific praise.
He added: “[Ndiaye and Grealish] are certainly making us more exciting in moments.
“Iliman played really well in the first half, Jack had some great moments. It’s given the whole team confidence, I can tell. Hopefully we can continue that.”
Everton and Villa often find themselves locked in stalemates, with this fixture producing a whopping nine 0-0 results in the Premier League.
Only the Merseyside derby, Everton versus Liverpool, has produced more goalless draws (12).
Villa, meanwhile, fought hard to pick up just their second point of the season, underlining the turbulent start Unai Emery’s side have endured.
The Villans have now failed to score in their opening four league games for the first time in their history, making them only the fifth Premier League side to do so after Sheffield Wednesday (1993-94), Newcastle United (2005-06), Swansea City (2011-12), and Crystal Palace (2017-18).
Emery, however, sought to look at the positives, despite this result leaving them 19th in the Premier League.
“It's a good point and a lot of things were positive,” he told Sky Sports.
“Emiliano did a fantastic job and saved us lots of time. Overall, we competed, everything we needed to show.
“We were defending and were disciplined. Then we have to improve offensively as we are not scoring goals.
“With this point, I am happy because we are building the team. This point is necessary to keep going. We are recovering our positivity.”
