Everton held Aston Villa to a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park to stop them from moving level on points with Premier League frontrunners Liverpool.
Sean Dyche‘s men earned a vital point to claw themselves away from Luton Town in 18th place.
Alex Moreno saw a goal ruled out after 18 minutes when Leon Bailey was judged have been offside in the build-up after a four-minute VAR check.
Toffees fans paid tribute to skipper Seamus Coleman as he marked 15 years of service with the club, but they’ll be holding their breath for Monday when the club could face another financial fair play blow.
This is Lewis Steele’s notebook from the game.
Everton will learn on Monday whether they are to be charged for fresh breaches of FFP rules
Everton’s financial fair play storm might not be over
Everton will learn on Monday whether they are to be charged for fresh breaches of financial fair play rules, with the club facing the possibility of another points deduction in the event they are guilty.
The Toffees have already been docked 10 points for a loss of £124.5million relating to a previous accounting period ending in 2021-22. The club is currently preparing for an appeals process on that punishment, which the League alleges the club overspent by £19.5m.
And Everton, along with other Premier League sides including Nottingham Forest, will learn whether they face new charges for accounts relating to the 2022-23 season, for which all clubs filed their numbers by December 31.
Under a new system brought in by the League this season, charges will be fast-tracked and dealt with by the end of this season, with any punishments applied to the current campaign. Any charged club will have a fortnight to respond, and an independent commission will be formed.
Forest are considered by financial experts as the club sailing closest to the wind. As per Premier League profit and sustainability rules (PSR), clubs can make a maximum loss of £105m over a rolling three-year period.
Politicians get behind Everton over points deduction
Mark Carney has become the latest high-profile politician to throw his weight behind Everton’s fight for clarity after the club believes the Premier League imposing a 10-point deduction was ‘unproportionate’ and ‘unfair’.
The former Bank of England chief, along with former Trade Union Congress general secretary Sir Brendan Barber and Dame Sue Owen, formerly of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has written to the Premier League to highlight concerns over treatment of Everton.
Mark Carney (pictured) called the Toffees’ 10-point deduction ‘draconian’ in comparison with the small fines clubs received for trying to form a European Super League
Carney’s letter calls the punishment ‘draconian’ compared with the meagre fines clubs received for trying to form a European Super League. ‘We have no confidence in the process for deducting points from Everton,’ reads the letter.
‘And feel very strongly that the severity of the deduction must be reduced by the new commission assessing the appeal, or, ideally, replaced with a fine. We feel Everton have been unfairly punished for co-operating and making this a “quick” case.’
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham added at a fan event on Sunday morning: ‘Every single football supporter has a right to know what was discussed with what they called “the formula” for Everton. We fight for our club but we fight for the game.’
Unai Emery’s record of champions
Unai Emery is averaging exactly two points per game in the Premier League with Aston Villa, this his 92nd point in his 46th league match. No boss has ever had a points-per-game of two or more, having played 40 or more games, and not gone on to win the title with that club.
Big ask then, Unai. He also broke his own record at this match, with this the first 0-0 draw in the Spaniard’s 97 Premier League matches as a manager, also counting his time at Arsenal. After some thrillers in that time, he was probably due a dull match like this.
Unai Emery is averaging two points per game at Aston Villa since his arrival – any manager who has done so having played 40 games with a club has won the Premier League title
A grand thank you for Seamus Coleman
Everton serenaded captain Seamus Coleman and had a mural thanking him for 15 years of service.
The Irishman became their record appearance maker in the Premier League with 355 games, ahead of Tim Howard. At £60,000 from Sligo in 2009, there are few better bargains.
Aston Villa’s midfield – quality on the cheap
Aston Villa’s box midfield that ended this game cost a grand total of £17.5million, made up of Douglas Luiz (£15m), John McGinn (2.5m), Boubacar Kamara (free) and Youri Tielemans (free). It would be a huge understatement to say that is a stellar bit of recruitment.
Luiz gets many plaudits but Kamara was just as good here. The Frenchman, 24, signed from Marseille 18 months ago and, after an injury-hit first year, has started every game he has been available this season in the Premier League, only missing games when suspended.
He had 81 touches here and made 65 passes, while also completing four tackles, more than any of his team-mates.
Everton fans held up a mural devoted to Seamus Coleman for his 15 years of service to the club
VAR elicits anger from both sets of fans
You know VAR is bad when both sets of fans chant in frustration at it, which was the case here after a three-minute delay dilly-dallying over whether Alex Moreno’s goal was to be allowed or not.
‘VAR, not very good,’ sang both the away end and home fans. Or words to that effect.
