Moyes On Key Everton Qualities That Led To 'Magical' Win

Everton boss David Moyes said "there's something about Everton, something about the resilience, something about the Club, something about the supporters that can make those magic moments happen", after the Blues' excellent 1-0 away victory over in-form Aston Villa.

Thierno Barry's exquisite clipped effort just before the hour mark proved decisive at Villa Park, ending the hosts' 11-game winning run in the Premier League – despite the Toffees missing a host of senior players through AFCON participation, suspension and injury.

The result – in England's most-played top-flight fixture with this the 216th meeting between the two sides – sees Everton climb back into the top half of the table, just four points off fourth place.

"I've got to say, I came here a bit worried about what we had available to us, probably more to do with what we were missing and how we'd go about it, but we've worked all week," Moyes told evertontv afterwards. "We're really sore from the last week, and I've been struggling to show my face because I want us to be doing well and I felt like we hadn't done that well after going out of the Cup.

"I said to the players, 'Let's give the supporters something today', and with the players we had available – and it's no disrespect to them – it's an incredible result against a team that's challenging for the top of the league. They might have been missing one midfield player but we were missing four or five regulars, which has shown in our recent performances – but it didn't show today.

"I think this will give us a huge boost. We've been waiting to get a lift and it's been a difficult sort of three, four weeks with people out and losing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Charly Alcaraz, and even behind the scenes today we had one or two problems going into the game and we didn't know if [those players] were going to be available or not, so we've had to cope with all of that. 

"It's not made the past week or so very nice because we're coming to Aston Villa, who have won 11 games on the bounce, looking to try to get a result – but there's something about Everton, something about the resilience, something about the Club, something about the supporters that can make those magic moments happen."

Since Moyes’ first away league game back in charge of the Club in January 2025, Everton's 10 wins on the road in the Premier League is the joint-most of any side, along with Arsenal.

Their first triumph of 2026 sees the Toffees climb back into the top half of the table, just four points off the top four positions.

"Look, if you're an Evertonian, you'd want to be an away supporter, at the moment, that's for sure," said Moyes. "Our results away from home – we're coming up with some brilliant results away from home. We know we need to turn it into better things now at home but if we're just focusing on today, I think the players did such a good job and work tirelessly to get [the win]. 

"They kept defending, they kept blocking things when we needed it and, look, we also had a goal chalked off, we hit the post after 10 seconds – so we were in and around it for long parts of the game. I thought we played really well on top of that."

Barry's strike was his fourth goal in his past seven league starts, while Merlin Röhl caught the eye with an excellent performance in midfield at Villa Park.

Discussing the duo's displays, Moyes added: "I always hoped [Barry] would come through. I don't think it's easy as a young player coming from overseas to the Premier League. Thierno has the even more difficult one of being a centre forward trying to score goals. I think we're going to have to give him time – there are lots of things that he needs to improve on greatly, so we're not getting carried away but he gets the winning goal today and if you do that in games, which is important, it means an awful lot.

"Then I think that Evertonians might have just started to see a bit more of Merlin Röhl today. I see quite a lot of it in training. He's been up and down a little bit and he's coming back from a hernia operation, so he's just beginning to get an idea of what the Premier League is like. He's got loads to improve on as well but if we're going to judge them so quickly then we're not going to give them an opportunity [to show their best]. 

"I say it because the people who have watched Everton for many years will know the likes of Leighton Baines, Joleon Lescott, Phil Jagielka – they all had to bide their time before they got regular games. I'm not saying it's exactly the same but if they go on to be as good as any of those players, that's what we want."