Unai Emery did not hold back. In his programme notes the Aston Villa manager turned to caps lock. “THIS MATCH IS CRUCIAL,” he said, spying an opportunity after Arsenal and Manchester City dropped points, with a golden chance to return to second and cut the leaders’ advantage to four oints.

Everton, however, had other ideas and, as the hour mark approached, Thierno Barry pounced on an Emiliano Martínez fumble after a Pau Torres lapse to condemn Villa to a punishing defeat. They are almost unheard of around here, this only a third home league defeat since the start of last season.