Remi Allen explains critical decision that led to Aston Villa win over Everton

Managing tricky conditions at Walton Hall Park was key for Aston Villa in their 2-0 Barclays FA WSL victory over Everton, says captain Remi Allen.

Emily Gielnik put Villa 1-0 up in the 17th minute, tapping in from Jill Scott’s overhead kick to put the Villans in front in a battle between two sides who were looking to move away from the relegation zone.

And a second from Ramona Petzelberger just six minutes after the opener, turning in from Alisha Lehmann’s cross, gave them a crucial two-goal cushion in the blustery weather.

Allen said her side made the decision to make the Toffees play into the wind in the opening 45 minutes, a choice that proved prescient.

“They were weird conditions when the wind was that strong but we knew if we won the toss and fired that way then we could throw it on them a little bit and we did that, and capitalised with two goals,” she said.

“The first was a corner we threw in there and caused problems and the second was well worked.

“We knew it would be a different game in the second-half, we would need to be a lot more resilient and I think we showed that side of us as well.”

Villa now move 12 points clear of bottom side Birmingham with a game in hand, and move five points ahead of Everton and into ninth in the table.

After patchy form recently, a second win in three league matches and a clean sheet is something that Allen was understandably delighted with.

She said: “We’re buzzing with that. The key was the performance. We’ve been waiting for the results to come, but in and out of possession today we were brilliant and it's probably our best game of the season. To score two and not concede is massive for us.

“We could have scored more goals, and that’s what we’ve got to be aiming for, to keep