David Moyes' second arrival failed to inspire Everton as they struggled again in the Premier League on Wednesday, losing 1-0 at home to Aston Villa.
Villa have lost their last five away games in the league but are by far the better side at Goodison Park and took the point through Ollie Watkins' 51st-minute strike .
Moyes returned to the club he left in 2013 following Sean Dyche's sacking last week to get an up-close look at the monumental challenge facing him, with Everton struggling all night with accuracy and ideas to win in 12 league games. achieve a victory. They went nine games without scoring a goal during this period.
The drought looks like it never abated on Wednesday as they remain two places and a point above the relegation zone, while Villa move up to seventh, level on points with Manchester City.
Moyes is Everton's ninth manager since leaving the club to join Manchester United after 11 relatively successful years, and if anyone expected an immediate change of attitude after Dyche's poor experience, they soon did. disappointment.
The atmosphere on the pitch was subdued and Everton quickly fell into their default mode of the season - caution, caution and the absence of any overt attacking intent.
Neville Williams/Aston Villa Football Club via Getty Images
Villa took the initiative as Jordan Pickford saved from Morgan Rogers and James Tarkowski struggled to keep out Youri Tielemans Tielemans, Watkins shot wide after latching on to Ashley Young's poor back pass.
Everton's first shot came just after the half-hour mark when Dominic Calvert-Lewin deflected his shot wide before his off-balance shot was cleared by Boubacar Kamara.
Watkins put Villa ahead six minutes after the restart when there was too much space for him to collect Rodgers' through ball and drive low past Pickford.
The goal shocked the home crowd but Everton's players remained distracted and inaccurate and their night ended in stoppage time with Calvert-Lewin desperately lacking confidence after scoring twice all season. Use your side foot to lift the ball over the crossbar.
"I have no illusions about the job I have to do - we couldn't score tonight," Moyes said.
"We worked hard, but a little mistake, a little bit of loss of position cost us the game."
Moyes' only consolation on the night was defeats to relegation rivals Leicester City and Wolves, but he knows he won't be able to rely on that for the rest of the season if Everton are to avoid relegation for the first time in 71 years. a little. Year.
"The position we're in isn't as good as we would have liked. We've had some really good results and good draws and it's difficult to play against under Sean but we have to show more quality on the ball ," he said. "That's the part I'm disappointed about tonight."
Of course, the atmosphere at Camp Vera is different.
"It was a tricky game, they made it difficult and the atmosphere was great, but we knocked it out," Watkins said.
"We could have been a little more clinical in the first half and it was a well-deserved three points. I had my chances in the first half but you have to keep going. You have to stay focused on the game."
Villa boss Unai Emery is also a happy man. "We played really well, we had some clear chances but only conceded one," he said.
“We didn’t have quite the same control in the second half but it was important to keep clean sheets and it was important that we ended this (away defeat).”