Evanilson’s injury-time header earns Bournemouth draw at Aston Villa: Here is What You Need to Know
Aston Villa’s seemingly relentless surge upwards was finally halted as Evanilson, Bournemouth’s £31.7million substitute, headed an unexpected equaliser in the seventh minute of added time.
The Brazilian, signed as Dominic Solanke’s replacement from Porto in the summer, glanced an expert header into the far corner of Emiliano Martínez’s net from Marcus Tavernier’s free-kick just as Villa looked set to keep within three points of Manchester City in the Premier League’s top three.
With Ross Barkley scoring his first goal back at Villa in the 76th minute, eight goals for each of these clubs have now been scored or assisted by substitutes.
Villa were not at their best but whether this was another case of what follows the Lord Mayor’s show depends on your perspective. This was certainly a better performance than the goalless draw against Manchester United that followed the euphoric victory over Bayern Munich; but then a third successive European victory, over Bologna, was less of an emotional high for Villa to come down from.
In many ways, the stalemate was simply a case of Mark Travers, Bournemouth’s deputy goalkeeper, holding Villa at bay with some brilliant saves and a VAR line call going against Ollie Watkins in the first half.
Watkins was adjudged to have pulled the ball back from over the byline before he teed up John McGinn to swerve home a shot in the 28th minute after Jacob Ramsey got away down the inside-left channel.
