Everton got a result against Aston Villa on Saturday, a 1-1- tie, their first point in the Premier League since Landon Donovan rejoined the Liverpool-based team on loan from the Galaxy, and when it was over David Moyes, the Everton coach, was calmly direct about identifying his most influential player.

It was Donovan, the Galaxy captain, who made the pass that set up Victor Anichebe with the tying goal, and Moyes noticed.

“It was a really good goal, but I thought it was created by the best player on the pitch in Landon Donovan,” Moyes said in an interview on Everton TV.

“You know, Thierry Henry’s come in for Arsenal and Robbie Keane’s come in for Aston Villa (on loans from MLS), but Landon’s come in here and played three or four games already, 90 minutes on the bounce, which is really tough because obviously they’ve had a bit of a break.

“And he’s come in and his professionalism has been great. I thought he played great today. He put the cross in which I thought could have been a penalty kick, and he puts the pass through for Victor to score the equalizer …

“That tells you the level of the professional he is. He’s come in here, it’s his second stint for us and he’s played really well. He’s given us something a little bit extra. We just need to try and finish off a lot of the good play he’s given us.”

Everton lost at home to Bolton on January 4, won an FA Cup match against little Tamworth, 2-0 (first goal set up by Donovan corner kick), on January 7, lost to Tottenham 2-0 in London on January 11 and tied at Aston Villa 1-1 on January 14.

Landon started in all of those games, and that’s a grueling pace — four games in 11 days.

Anyway, Landon was interviewed by Everton TV, too, after the draw with Villa.

“I thought given what this team has been through in the last couple weeks, all the games, I thought the effort was really good; the game was good, it was fast. I think it probably was pretty exciting for the fans to watch, and in the end a point is probably fair and maybe on another day, with a little luck, we get a win, too.”

Everton is working some nice faces into the team, and Donovan said they did well.

“I think Darron (Gibson) came in and did a good job for us. There’s some tired legs, but I thought the effort was real good and, obviously, Vic came in and gave us a boost that we needed and we finally got a goal from the run of play, and a good goal.”

Shane Duffy made his Premier League debut, and Landon was asked about it.

“I was here with Shane a couple years ago and I didn’t even realize that it was his first Premier League game. He looked so comfortable out there … you can tell his comfort level is high.”

He was asked about Everton improving, as injured players return.

“We’re saying, if we get Hibbo (Tony Hibbert) back and we get Ozzie (Leon Osman) back and Jack (Rodwell) back, and Jack’s back, it’s quite a strong squad and, obviously … there’s strength in the squad, getting Vic healthy again and playing well. I think we’re going to give the manager some really tough choices in the next few weeks.”

On the goal: “It was nice to finally score not on a set piece or a penalty, but I think our attacking play was pretty good and we created a number of good chances. I think [the Aston Villa keeper] Shay Given was really good and made a number of good saves. and maybe on another night we get the goal to win.”

He was asked whether Everton and Aston Villa are about equal.

“It seems like that. Throughout the game, there were different spells. They got on top for a while and we would get on top for a while, but two pretty evenly matched team, probably could have gone either way, so maybe a point (for a tie) is fair.”

He was asked about having a feel week off, for the first time since he played his first game for Everton, on January 4, home against Bolton.

“It’s been nice to come in and get a lot of games, but you kinda get thrown right in, and right into the fire and you’ve gotta kinda fend for yourself, so it’s been good. The part that hasn’t been sharp is the attacking third where I feel like I haven’t been great with my passing. It got a little better tonight with my finishing, and I think having some time to actually work on it during training will help a lot, as opposed to playing a game and recovering and playing a game. So it will be nice.”

Everton TV asked him about the importance of team speed.

“You know, you don’t want to be predictable; if you’re predictable it’s easy to play against you. So when you’ve got players who can add something different that helps a lot. When we played Tottenham the other night, they’ve got a number of players who can make a difference with just their short pace, between (Gareth) Bale and (Aaron) Lennon, and they’ve got a few special players, and the more players you can have on your team that can make those kind of differences, the better off you are.”

He went straight into praise for Everton.

“And obviously this team is a great team. We’re a lot of guys that work hard and play the game the right way. We just need a little bit of creativity in the final third and we’re starting to get that. I think Louie (Saha) was a little better tonight, I felt a little better, Tim (Howard, the goalkeeper) played well and I think we’re just starting to click a little bit more and it’s going to get better as we go forward.”

So, to sum up: Everton has been struggling; with 25 points, they are only eight points above the relegation zone. David Moyes loves Landon. Loved him when he played there on loan two years ago, loves him now. Landon likes playing for him. Everton fans tend to like him. So it’s a win-win-win — as long as Landon doesn’t get hurt in all these really high-pace matches.

He could appear in as many as seven more games before he returns to South California, at the end of February.

So far, so good. No goals for Landon, but he’s helping other people score, and that’s vital.

And thanks to former colleague Guy McCarthy, who works for Patch, for alerting me to the Moyes interview.