Everton had a great chance to take the lead after just two minutes, but Beto’s inability to sort his feet out saw him shoot wide with the goal at his mercy.
His header from a Jack Grealish cross shortly after had Emiliano Martinez scrambling, and it was Grealish’s directness which had the Hill Dickinson Stadium crowd on their feet more than once in the opening exchanges.
Not until the quarter-hour mark did Aston Villa start to make inroads into Everton’s half, but the aimless balls over the top to Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers were as good as it got for the visitors.
Grealish’s smart half-volley was the first shot on target from either side as both teams looked to assert some dominance and break the shackles of a congested midfield.
Some robust challenges notwithstanding, the hosts were more vibrant in an attacking sense, with Villa relying on full-backs, Lucas Digne and Matty Cash, to give some impetus to their own attacking play.
Emiliano Buendia had the whole goal to aim at after Jordan Pickford had gone walkabout, but his tame effort was indicative of their afternoon up until that point.
While Villa were in the ascendancy as half-time approached, there was little in the way of chances despite both teams’ best efforts.
Beto again failed to connect with an early second-half cross, while at the other end, the visitors were able to break through the lines with relative ease, yet had nobody up front to hold up play when they did so.
That pattern continued, and although Watkins and Buendía worked hard at one end to create openings, Iliman Ndiaye kept the Villa back four on their toes at the other.
The decibel levels rose significantly after Jake O'Brien and Tim Iroegbunam saw shots blocked, even though the resulting corner came to nothing.
A lovely cross from Grealish found Michael Keane, and his powerful headed effort would’ve opened the scoring were it not for a stunning save from Martínez with 20 minutes left to play.
The final stages of the match were a lot more open, with Grealish remaining the most likely to make something happen.
The Grealish-Keane connection almost brought an injury-time winner, but the chance, like every other, went begging.
Villa are now unbeaten in 13 PL H2Hs against Everton (W9, D4), but are awaiting their first win and their first goal of the season, while Everton are still unbeaten at their new ground as they attempt to make it a fortress.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jack Grealish (Everton)
