Aston Villa achieved a surprising result at the weekend, becoming the latest title challengers to stumble. premier leagueOn Sunday, a defensive lapse resulted in a 1-0 home defeat to Everton.
Everton striker Tierno Barry scored the only goal in the 59th minute with a deft finish after Villa centre-back Pau Torres gave the ball away on the edge of his own area and goalkeeper Emi Martinez fumbled a soft shot.
If Villa won, they could overtake Manchester City and move into second place, closing the gap on leaders Arsenal to four points.
In fact, it would be another missed opportunity. Just hours after City lost 2-0 to Manchester United in the derby, as did Arsenal’s 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Fourth place Liverpool also missed out on a win, drawing 1-1 at home to penultimate Burnley.
It was Villa’s first home defeat since August 31 and they began an unlikely title challenge, largely due to their excellent form at Villa Park. Since the loss to Crystal Palace, Villa have won 11 consecutive games at home, their best winning streak at Villa Park since the 1989-90 season.
Villa maintain a seven-point lead over second-placed City and Arsenal on goal difference, and manager Unai Emery said he believes his team is performing above its league potential.
“We are not yet top-five candidates,” Emery said. “We’re in it now, but we’re not favorites yet. There are other teams that have more potential than us.”
With this win, Everton moved up to 10th place.
Wolves revived
Wolverhampton may be leaving the resurgence too late.
The bottom team held Newcastle to a 0-0 draw for the 17th time in the league this season, already one more game than last season, extending their unbeaten record in all competitions to five games.
After a historically poor start to the Premier League season, with just two points from their first 18 league games, Wolves have picked up six points from their last four games. However, they are still 14 points from safety and appear destined to return to the second-tier Championship after eight years in the top flight.
Wolves’ immediate aim is to pick up another four points and ensure they avoid the lowest-ever Premier League points tally in a single season (Derby County’s 11 in 2007-08).
With this draw, Newcastle’s league winning streak ended at three, and they moved up to eighth place, two points behind fifth-placed Man United.
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Steve Douglas is https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
