Everton of England midfielder, Alex Iwobi played as a second half substitute in picked five points out of ten in his side’s goalless draw with Aston Villa, megasportsarena.com reports.
Iwobi and his pals were left frustrated at the end of proceedings, as their hope for European football next season took another blow with the barren outing at Villa Park and they missed a chance to go sixth in the English Premier League.
Villa defender, Tyrone Mings planted a header wide from Douglas Luiz’s cross when his dive should have at least tested Jordan Pickford in the Everton goal, before he later survived a VAR red card review for what appeared a studs-up challenge on Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Calvert-Lewin had Everton’s clearest chance of the night in the closing minutes, but, having netted a header for the Toffees against Villa in the return fixture 12 days ago, he nodded down and straight at Emiliano Martinez as the visitors failed to claim a late victory.
Three points would have taken Carlo Ancelotti’s side up to sixth in the table and inside the European spots, but instead they stay eighth, behind Tottenham and needing other results to go their way if they are to qualify for continental competition.
On paper, Everton looked clear favourites as two sides with better results on the road than on home soil met at Villa Park, but they were just as limp as their hosts in the opening stages with the lack of tempo hurting the creativity of both.
Fittingly, a set-piece provided the one clear-cut chance of the opening period, with Ross Barkley’s delivery picked up on the far side by Luiz, who found Mings at the near post – but the stand-in Villa captain could not turn his diving header inside the goal-frame.
Soon after Iwobi got off the bench in place of Seamus Coleman in the 75th minute, Richarlison should also have tested Martinez as Everton found themselves in a rare good position, but he scuffed Allan’s pass well wide from 20 yards.
While Iwobi rues his side’s misfortune, Villa spurned the opportunity to leapfrog Leeds and move into the top 10 with the draw but had less to regret than Everton, who now must hope the sides around them falter in their final three games of the season if they are to make it into Europe.
