Rampant Everton rout Aston Villa
Ayew, Shelvey inspire Swansea’s fightback
Everton 4
Villa 0
Remi Garde suffered his first defeat as Aston Villa manager as Everton ran riot in a 40 victory at Goodison Park yesterday. After an encouraging goalless draw against high-flying Manchester City in his opening game before the international break, this was a chastening reality check for Garde as doubles from Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku left Villa rooted to the bottom of the Premier League. England midfielder Barkley opened the floodgates when he put the Toffees ahead in the 17th minute.
Belgian striker Lukaku then headed home in the 28th minute before poor Villa defending allowed Barkley to add another three minutes before half-time. Lukaku notched his second just before the hour to complete Villa’s heaviest defeat of a miserable season and leave them five points from safety. The extent of the challenge facing former Lyon manager Garde, who replaced the sacked Tim Sherwood, was laid bare as Villa’s winless league run in the league extended to 12 matches with a 10th defeat.
In contrast, it was another encouraging afternoon for Everton boss Roberto Martinez after the 6-2 thumping of Sunderland in their previous home game. Everton dominated possession from the off and it was not long before they broke the deadlock. A flowing move started with Barkley delightfully flicking a John Stones pass
Swansea 2
Bournemouth 2
An Andre Ayew and Jonjo Shelveyinspired fightback earned Swansea a comefrom-behind 2-2 draw with Bournemouth at the Liberty Stadium yesterday. Joshua King and Dan Gosling put struggling Bournemouth firmly in command before Ayew reduced the deficit, with the Ghana international then going on to earn a penalty, converted by Shelvey. The stalemate to Lukaku, and the ball then moved slickly on to James McCarthy and out to Gerard Deulofeu. He sent it goalwards and Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan was only able to parry it into the path of Barkley, who converted with ease.
Guzan was beaten again as Deulofeu tried to play Lukaku in, Micah Richards’ block saw the ball break wide to Seamus Coleman and his chipped cross was headed in by the Belgium striker. It was Lukaku’s 10th goal of the season in left Bournemouth, without a win now in eight outings, third from bottom and their hosts, winless since the end of August, four points above them in 14th.
Bournemouth got off to a dream start when Junior Stanislas pounced on a defensive mix-up to cross the ball to King, the Norwegian international coolly slotting the ball right-footed into the bottom left corner from six yards out. It was his first goal since February and his first since joining Bournemouth. The action quickly moved down to the other end where Wayne Routledge’s attempt for a quick equalizer was denied by Cherries goalkeeper Adam Federici. An entertaining first period saw King going close to getting a double. On 26 minutes Gosling did stretch the visitors’ lead, rifling a fine shot high past Lukasz Fabianski and into all competitions and saw him become only the fifth player to reach 50 Premier League goals before turning 23. Martinez’s side struck again when Guzan saved at Arouna Kone’s feet, but he couldn’t hold on to the ball and despite the presence of several Villa defenders, Barkley was able to fire into the net. Garde’s misery was complete in the 59th minute when Deulofeu fed Barkley and his tee-up found Lukaku, who lifted the ball past Guzan.— AFP the top corner after enterprising work from Matt Ritchie.
Within two minutes Ayew silenced the travelling fans’ celebrations when he latched on to Shelvey’s header to foil Federici with a neat close-range back heel. Six minutes from the break, Swansea were back level, when Simon Francis was judged to have felled Ayew, Shelvey stepping up to drive home the ensuing penalty. Bournemouth began the second half as they had the first, in spirited fashion, with Swansea keeper Fabianski denying Harry Arter’s longrange attempt and Steve Cook missing the target with a far-post volley. As the final 20 minutes of an enthralling encounter approached Ayew had a shot blocked, but neither side could break the deadlock in a result that arguably flattered the hosts.— AFP