Roberto Martinez admitted he was disappointed with Everton’s first-half display against Aston Villa, but thought his side were unlucky to leave empty-handed.
Villa went 2-0 up before the break, before being pegged back when Romelu Lukaku netted a penalty with half an hour remaining. From there, Tim Sherwood’s side again extended their lead to 3-1, before a 90th minute consolation made the final score 3-2.
“From our point of view, it’s a real contrast," Martinez told Sky Sports.
"In the first half, we were second best – I don’t think we competed as we normally do.
"To concede two goals from a corner and probably the second cross in the game, that’s very disappointing. We didn’t start with the same approach we had in the last game.
“What pleased me is their reaction; as a group, to get a goal back and then to get a second goal and a couple of opportunities.
"It’s really important that that reaction is there and I thought we were unfortunate not to get anything out of the game. It ended up being a very level game when you consider what Aston Villa did in the second half.”
Martinez admits that coming into the game off the back of a six-game unbeaten run, Everton knew the level they needed to perform at, and he was disappointed that they didn’t reach it.
“I think we are all aware of how we’re trying to play and the standards that we have,” Martinez added.
“The first 45 minutes is not good enough, it’s not the levels we’ve set for ourselves.
“We’ve got a lot of points to fight for, nine points is a big amount.
"Obviously we were in a very good moment of form and I think the second half we continued with that tempo and we can’t wait to bounce back and react against Sunderland and perform in the manner that we’ve been doing and expect.”