Dramatic Late Winner for Aston Villa Sinks Sorry Everton

After the game looked to be heading for a draw, there was still time for some late drama from Ashley Young as he sealed the win for Aston Villa with the last kick of the game.

Villa were 2-1 up with just minutes left on the clock, but a Joleon Lescott goal looked to have secured a point for Everton. That was until Young snatched victory in the dying seconds to condemn the home side to yet another defeat at Goodison.

The Action

With just 36 seconds gone, a dramatic game exploded into action after a fantastic 25-yard strike from midfielder Steve Sidwell put Aston Villa ahead.

Thanks to a Leon Osman flick from a Mikel Arteta free-kick, Everton equalised with Joleon Lescott prodding home on the half-hour mark

With 54 minutes gone, Phil Jagielka's poor back-pass allowed Ashley Young a gift of a goal, with the winger easily slotting past Tim Howard to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

The home side then started to dominate as they went in search of an equaliser, and it paid off in injury-time as Joleon Lescott secured his second with an acrobatic volley to level the score at 2-2.

Everyone watching the game thought it was all over, but the drama had not yet finished for the supporters. Immediately after the Aston Villa kick-off, Ashley Young weaved through from the right to slot past Tim Howard for his second of the match and snatch three point for the visitors.

Post Game Reaction

Aston Villa

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill hailed the performances of Ashley Young and skipper Martin Laursen after his side's 3-2 win over Everton.

He said: "My heart is still beating .I thought it was a wonderful game we started very, very brightly and got the goal within a minute or two with a great strike by Steve Sidwell."

"Then for about 10 or 15 minutes I felt we controlled the game but Everton began to come into it, got the equaliser and had the better of the rest of the first half."

The Villa manager continued: "They put us under pressure again early on in the second half, we score a wonder goal by Ash, it was a mistake by them but he still has to put it in the net."

"Then there's no time on the clock and Young, who has miles to go to put that in the net, has just done fantastically.''

He went on to say, "It was a wonderful game a great victory for us and a world class performance by Ashley Young."

Young wasn't the only one to catch O'Neill's eye and he was full of praise for his skipper after another stand-out performance.

He added, "Laursen has been a fantastic footballer here for the last couple of seasons he's got himself fit and that was a career threatening injury to be honest.''

"But he's shown a phenomenal willingness and enthusiasm and drive to go on and get fit and play in the Premiership week in and week out.''

"I think that is great testament to him to his own courage and determination."

Everton

Everton manager David Moyes praised his players after their 3-2 loss to Aston Villa, despite conceding an injury time goal seconds after levelling the score with minutes remaining.

He said, "The players didn't deserve that today, they played really well. I thought it was a terrific game, it was an old fashioned British game.''

"We had a right go at it, hit the bar and had a couple kicked off the line so we're disappointed."

He went on to say, "My only feeling at the time was when we scored and then they kicked off, I thought this must be time up now. Maybe not, maybe I got my times mixed up."

Attendance: 31,922

Source: www.skysports.com