Jamie Carragher thinks Orel Mangala had to do one thing for Everton vs Aston Villa which he’ll get ‘abuse’ for saying

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Everton were far from the better team yesterday afternoon, but that’s not to suggest that they did not deserve something from the game.

After all, for all the possession they had, Aston Villa only really forged a handful of clear-cut chances, similar to the amount that Sean Dyche‘s side managed.

Other than the two they scored, Dominic Calvert-Lewin also had two golden chances when through one-on-one with Emiliano Martinez.

The first he dawdled into a backtracking defender, whilst he slammed the second onto the bar.

And yet, there was another chance where, had Orel Mangala been slightly more cute on his debut, they might have been gifted a penalty to snag a point after all.

Jamie Carragher questions Orel Mangala

The moment was described by Sky Sports, in painstaking detail, as they pushed for an equaliser in the 93rd minute.

With the ball bobbling about just outside the Villa penalty area, Everton’s’ deadline-day signing picked up possession and danced back into the box.

However, met with the outstretched leg of an opposition defender, he bravely, and arguably quite naively, stayed on his feet.

It was described as such: ‘Villa don’t clear their lines and Mangala pounces on the loose ball on the edge of the penalty area. Maatsen slides in with a challenge and he’s so close to bringing the Everton midfielder down. However, Mangala stays on his feet but cannot get a shot in on goal.’

Jamie Carragher reacted on the live commentary: ‘Why did he not go down there? I will get a lot of abuse on social media now for saying that!’

Everton now have a huge run of Premier League fixtures

With yesterday marking their fourth straight loss in a row, Everton now have an almighty run of fixtures laid out ahead of them which they simply need to pick up points in.

Particularly for Dyche, whose job seems very much still up in the air.

Starting on Tuesday as they host Southampton in the EFL Cup, they then travel to Leicester City, another potential relegation rival, before hosting Crystal Palace and Newcastle United in crucial back-to-back home matches.

Another away trip to Ipswich Town then awaits, which they simply cannot afford to lose, before they then play Fulham at home, Southampton away, West Ham away and Brentford at home.

From those eight Premier League matches, anything less than 12 points would be a travesty.