Aston Villa Vs. Everton, 2012 Premier League: Deserved Draw For Toffees

Two struggling sides in Aston Villa and Everton clashed at Villa Park, and although it was the visitors who were forced to come from behind it was they who were broadly more impressive. Shay Given was forced to work entirely too hard on his return to Alex McLeish's side, and he was superb despite his six-week layoff with a hamstring injury, pulling off a series of excellent first-half saves to keep the scoreline level.

Darren Bent took full advantage of his teammate's heroics in net, scoring following Everton's failure to deal with a Mark Albrighton cross, but it was a goal generally against the run of play. Super-sub Victor Anichebe would deservedly draw the visitors level within fifteen minutes of Bent's opener following a good pass from Landon Donovan. Villa attempted a late rally, but Tim Howard and the Toffees defence were equal to the chance and Everton ended up coming away from their visit to Birmingham with a share of the spoils, a good result following embarrassment against Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers.