Stat Attack: All you need to know about Everton 0-1 Aston Villa

Emiliano Buendia’s header handed Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Everton in the Liverpool legend’s first game at Goodison Park as a manager.

Buendia broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time, flicking home a corner from former Toffees defender Lucas Digne.

The Argentine celebrated in front of the home fans, who responded by throwing objects that struck Matty Cash and Digne.

Everton battled on the pitch in the second half but lacked the guile to craft an equaliser, slipping to a third successive Premier League defeat under interim boss Duncan Ferguson.

Villa right-back Cash claimed the victory was an important one, particularly following the ugly scenes that preceded half-time.

He said: “It was a tough game, they threw everything forward in the last 15/20 minutes and we said we had to deal with the horrible part, we picked up the three points. Massive.

“[It was] crazy, [the bottle] hit me straight in the head, it’s not nice but three points, we’ll take that.”

Did you know?

Everton have recorded 19 points from their first 20 Premier League games this season, their lowest total at this stage since 1997-98 (17), a season they finished 17th – their joint-lowest ever Premier League finish.

Everton have now conceded the first goal in each of their last nine Premier League games (W1 D1 L7), extending what is their longest such run in the competition.

Villa’s Digne became the first player to assist a Premier League goal at Goodison Park against Everton having previously played for them in the competition since Nikica Jelavic for Hull in December 2014.

Villa have scored seven goals from corners in the Premier League this season, with only Liverpool and West Ham (both eight) scoring more, while only Leicester (nine) have conceded more goals from corners in the competition this season than Everton (eight).

Since the start of the 2020-21 Premier League season, only Manchester City’s Ederson (31) and Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy (24) have kept more clean sheets among goalkeepers in the competition than Villa’s Emiliano Martinez (21).