86 min: Now we have handbags, Trezeguet rolling around on the floor after some sort of confrontation with Coleman, who wanted to take a quick set-piece. Both are booked. It was just silliness.
“How clever of Theo Walcott to change his name to ‘Alex Iwobi’ and think we wouldn’t notice,” writes Joe Harvey.
Now the fairly quiet – bar that bit of theatrics – Trezeguet is replaced by his more defensive compatriot, Elmohamady.
84 min: Yes, it’s end to end now. El Ghazi advances and forces Pickford to beat away his 25-yard strike.
82 min: Iwobi hits the post! He’s been a real danger since coming on and, my word, that’s as close as Everton have come. He meets a Keane header sharply on the run, brings the ball down with a superb first touch and then thuds it low off the base of the upright from 15 yards. So unlucky!
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81 min: Ohhh, Grealish weaves into a great position in the box but he just can’t make a chance for Trezeguet. Good work from McGinn set all that up. Villa are starting to get a few glimpses again.
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80 min: A booking for Gomes, who tries to get in the way of a quick Villa free-kick and ends up costing his own team time.
79 min: “While brainstorming weird ice cream flavours (as you do), I once suggested Prawn & Pecan,” says Ed Russell. “It’s catchy, but I’ve never found it on sale anywhere, sadly.”
Ed, you disgust me. I have, in saying that, eaten oyster ice cream on Ile de Re before and it’s actually lovely.
78 min: The excellent Jota is replaced by El Ghazi. And there’s a third Everton change. Remember Theo Walcott? This might just be the promising young forward’s breakthrough year, I reckon, and he’s on for Richarlison.
77 min: I say that but then Mings miskicks after another sweet Digne delivery and Villa have to scramble the ball away for a corner. They are just starting to live a little dangerously, so it’s a good job the corner is cleared out to the relatively harmless Schneiderlin, who curls well over.
75 min: Digne crosses deliciously after combining with Iwobi but Mings, clearly given wings by that Red Bull tonight as he’s been very good, thuds a header clear ahead of two onrushing forwards.
74 min: That reminds me, actually, that Stuart James wrote an excellent primer on Wesley last month.
72 min: Villa aren’t offering much going forward in this half, evidenced by a woeful cross out of play by Taylor there, but Wesley is continuing to hold the ball up very well.
71 min: A sight for Iwobi, now, as Digne pulls the ball back and he has a glimmer of space in the box. He sets himself and hits one, but it deflects up and Heaton is able to catch.
69 min: It just hasn’t gone for Gomes today. He shifts into position a few yards outside the area but seems to lose confidence in the idea of shooting and instead lays the ball right, where Coleman … isn’t there.
68 min: “Strange ice-cream flavours?” asks Thomas Ireland-Delfs. Yes please, Thomas. “How about rhubarb with sea-buckthorn. Actually quite good here in Aarhus.”
66 min: Kean now makes a rapid dart down the left before finding Iwobi. The move slows down but a corner eventually results from it and there are a few early signs of life from the subs. Mina gets up to meet the flag kick again, and this time his header is deflected not too far wide. From the other side, Digne’s inswinger is headed away well by Mings.
64 min: Not yet, although Iwobi does get the ball in a nice area after a loose Mings pass but Kean can’t read his attempt at a through ball.
62 min: Here’s that double Everton change. Iwobi comes on for his debut in Sigurdsson’s place; Kean enters the fray for Bernard. Will this perk them up?
59 min: Mings is unmarked as he hangs in the air to meet a Grealish free-kick, but his header across goal flicks off a defender – not an arm, despite the crowd’s wails – and into Pickford’s arms. I think we are about to see Kean and Iwobi, by the way.
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58 min: Villa must fancy themselves on the break at this point but Jota, so dangerous when he darts inside, can’t quite put Trezeguet through with pretty much the same pass that sliced Everton open for the goal.
57 min: Did you know Luis Boa Morte is now on Silva’s coaching staff? I didn’t, but the pair are having a long discussion on the bench – perhaps about imminent subs.
55 min: Better from Everton, Digne and Gomes combining to win a corner on the left. Digne flings it in, Mina attacks it well in characteristic fashion, but the header goes over.
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52 min: Ste in NY is, like me, still thinking about ice cream –
“In ice cream related news, just got back from Vermont – Bourbon Brown Butter at the Ben and Jerry’s factory, complete with mini dark chocolate liqueur cups, followed by White Lightning at Bromley Mountain – dark chocolate ice cream with a streak of peppermint. (Think frozen After Eights.) Of course ice cream’s off the menu right now, as it’s Friday afternoon, and time for a Bronx Brewery Double India Pale Ale. 10.1%. Get your own, thish onesh mine.”
When you said “White Lightning” I thought of something very different for a moment.
In non-ice cream news, Calvert-Lewin is booked for going in late on Wesley.
47 min: Sigurdsson looks to play Calvert-Lewin through after a decent move, but it just clips the striker’s heel. There is a lot to like in Calvert-Lewin’s game but will he ever score enough?
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So, back out come the players. Can Everton turn this around? Will Villa get off the mark for the season?
Half-time: Aston Villa 1-0 Everton
Pretty but ultimately toothless from Everton, even if Calvert-Lewin should probably have equalised. Villa did nothing for 20 minutes but then Wesley scored a very smart goal and they’ve been much the better side since, looking a few gears quicker than their opposition. All to play for after the break!
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45 min: Grealish tries to bend one into the far corner but it flies wide. Villa are operating with such purpose now and Everton’s previously solid back line looks very shaky.
44 min: Andre Gomes leathered one out of play a minute ago and has now miscontrolled one out of play. He’s not been quite up to his usual high standards so far. Mine and Wesley have a little exchange of words while we mull over that, requiring a talking-to from Oliver.
41 min: Bernard does show some decent pace to get away down the left, now, but his cross on the stretch is dealt with.
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40 min: Everton have been smart in possession, sure, but perhaps a little one-paced at times. Could we see Kean or Iwobi after the break?
37 min: Guilbert advances in a more central area now and, with the defence backing off, decides to have a pop. A different decision would have been better as it’s well off target. But Villa are looking good now.
36 min: Wesley tees up Grealish well, but his shot is deflected and Pickford manages to stop it dribbling behind.
35 min: Guilbert shows a smart attacking turn of pace but Heaton has little problem taking his cross, which nobody is attacking. Villa have nice speed when they attack.
32 min: Engels saves Villa! A perceptive Schneiderlin ball plays Coleman into space on the right of the area and his first-time lay-off puts it on the plate for Calvert-Lewin. The net seems set to bulge but Engels gets in the way, right in front of the line, and punches the air in celebration. It was as important as a goal, that; and should really have been one for Everton.
30 min: There was, by the way, a pause after the goal while a VAR check took place – even though even I could see it was fine – because football is for pen-pushers, pedants, bores and bureaucrats now.
28 min: Everton look rattled by that; the game had been played entirely in Villa’s half til the goal but now the reverse is true.
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