Aston Villa became the latest title challenger to trip up on a weekend of surprising results in the Premier League, losing 1-0 at home to Everton on Sunday after a defensive blunder.
After Villa center back Pau Torres gave the ball away on the edge of his area and goalkeeper Emi Martinez fumbled a soft shot, Everton striker Thierno Barry was on hand to supply a deft finish for the only goal in the 59th minute.
Villa could have climbed above Manchester City to second place and trimmed the gap to leader Arsenal to four points with a win.
Instead, it will go down as another missed opportunity. Like it was for Arsenal in its 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, hours after City lost 2-0 at Manchester United in the derby. Fourth-placed Liverpool also failed to win, held 1-1 at home to next-to-last Burnley.
It was a first home loss since Aug. 31 for Villa, which has launched an unlikely title challenge largely on the back of its brilliant form at Villa Park. Since that defeat to Crystal Palace, Villa had won 11 straight games at home in all competitions — the team's best streak at Villa Park since the 1989-90 season.
Villa stayed behind second-placed City on goal difference and seven points adrift of Arsenal, and manager Unai Emery said he believed his team was punching above its weight in the league.
''We are still not a contender to be in the top five,'' Emery said. ''We are (in it) now, but we are still not a contender. There are other teams with more potential than us.''
Everton jumped to 10th place with the win.
