Everton’s impressive run of five consecutive home victories was brought to an end following a narrow 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa in the WSL.
Noelle Maritz opened the scoring for Villa before Amalie Vangsgaard added two more, scoring once in each half to put the visitors firmly in control.
First goals for the club from Holly McNamara and Noémie Mouchon gave the Blues hope late in the second half, but Everton ultimately fell just short of completing the comeback.
The visitors put Everton on the back foot with just four minutes on the clock, capitalising on their pressure to win possession in the hosts’ half. Vangsgaard played a short pass into the path of the overlapping Maritz, who burst into the box before squeezing her effort off the post and into the net.
Continuing to pose a threat, Anna Patten delivered a dangerous ball into the box towards Vangsgaard, but Courtney Brosnan did well to divert the danger in the windy conditions.
The Blues were keen to have their say, gradually settling into the game as Maz Pacheco squared a low-driven ball towards Yuka Momiki, only for Villa’s defence to stand firm and deny her a sight of goal.
Ornella Vignola carved out Everton’s next opportunity for an equaliser, threading an incisive pass to Hannah Cain in the area, but the forward could only muster a tame effort while off balance.
However, Vangsgaard continued to haunt the hosts, doubling Villa’s advantage in the 32nd minute with a delicate dink over Brosnan following a swift counterattack.
With half-time approaching, Momiki looked to give the Blues a positive end to the opening period after Cain was fouled on the edge of the area. The midfielder’s trademark long-range strike threatened the Villa goal, but Anna Patten was well positioned to head the effort away at the near post.
Everton were dealt another setback just five minutes after the restart, with Vangsgaard tapping home from close range after Maritz fizzed a clinical cross into the box.
Shortly after, Vangsgaard threatened to claim her hat-trick, only for Ruby Mace to produce some characteristic last-ditch defending, heading the danger away. The ball fell back to the striker, but Brosnan was on hand to claim it and nullify the threat.
Momiki continued to search for a way back into the contest as Vignola laid the ball off to her inside the box, but her strike was too close to Akane Okuma.
The Blues finally found a breakthrough in the 79th minute when Momiki squeezed a pull-back into the path of McNamara, who managed to turn the ball over the line and give the hosts renewed hope.
With momentum beginning to build, Mouchon then fired a powerful ball across the face of goal. McNamara looked to capitalise once more, but an excellent defensive challenge prevented her from finding the target, with her effort flying over the crossbar.
Everton continued to push for a late comeback, and Mouchon gave the home crowd further reason to believe in the 90th minute. The forward floated a ball in from around 30 yards out, which sailed beyond the goalkeeper and crept in at the far post to reduce the deficit to just one goal.
Despite their late rally, the Blues were unable to find a third as Villa held on to all three points.
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