This was a game that the old Everton of David Moyes would have been happy to draw. They would have been mired in defensive forethought, and been happy to hang on and squeeze away from Villa Park with a share of the points. This new Everton 2.0, however, under Roberto Martinez, is now engineered for victory, for attacking the opposition and going for full points; and that's exactly what they got.
It could have all turned out very different, of course. Villa, buoyed by the return of their talismanic front-man Christian Benteke, started like a house on fire and had three golden chances to take the lead. The first chance was in fact a penalty, which Tim Howard produced a remarkable save to deny Benteke. He then denied the Belgian again and then Andreas Weimann, as he single-handedly kept the scoreline level.
Everton gradually got to grips with the game, and it was turning into an end-to-end, rip-roaring affair. It was very much anybody's game; until the 68th minute, when a glorious piece of precision play down the vaunted Everton left produced the vital opener. Leighton Baines and substitute Leon Osman managed to thread their way through the tightest of spaces before sliding a through ball for the in-form Romelu Lukaku to stroke home with his left foot. It was a glorious goal, encapsulated by the evolutionary, confident offensive approach adopted this season by the Toffees.
Villa still had every chance in this one, but another goal 9 minutes from time sealed it for the visitors. This time, it was Gareth Barry who showed his customary composure and poise to pick out a calling Osman on the edge of the penalty area. The substitute arrowed a sublime left-foot sizzler into the same left-hand corner to beat Brad Guzan and seal the points for Everton. They continue their surge up the table, with this their 5th win in their past 6 league games. It was indeed an inspired substitution by Martinez to bring on Osman, who basically changed the game for Everton.
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