Aston Villa up and running after Ings and Buendía sink Everton

The competitive rivalry between Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard has moved from Premier League and England midfields into the dugout, and it was the former who won the first managerial encounter between the pair as Aston Villa secured a fraught but thoroughly deserved first win of the new season. Everton remain pointless and toothless.

A fine finish from Danny Ings and well-worked counter from substitute Emiliano Buendía delivered victory but it took crucial defensive interventions from Tyrone Mings and Calum Chambers to prevent Lampard’s team from pulling off a dramatic comeback in stoppage time. It would have been a heist given how Villa were in the ascendency for much of the contest.

Gerrard called a truce in his stand-off with Mings by recalling the defender he stripped of the Villa captaincy and left on the bench throughout the opening day defeat at Bournemouth. Mings responded with an authoritative display, albeit against a weak Everton attack that again illustrated Lampard’s desperate need for reinforcement before the transfer deadline. It is a hole that has needed filling since the first day of the window.

The game was played in sweltering early afternoon heat but Villa responded immediately to the Bournemouth setback with an intense, vibrant opening. Philippe Coutinho was deployed by a front two of Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins with Boubacar Kamara impressing at the base of a midfield diamond on his home debut. The hosts looked to exploit space behind Everton right wing back Nathan Patterson, Gerrard’s former charge at Rangers, and remained the more threatening team even after the visitors’ solid back line weathered the early pressure.

Villa’s first goal of the season arrived courtesy of quick thinking from new