Crystal Palace 4 Aston Villa 1: Villa collapse in the capital
If Unai Emery believed he was close to finding a solution to Villa’s away day woes then this showed it is very much a case of back to the drawing board.
This chastening 4-1 defeat to Crystal Palace was his team’s seventh in their last nine on the road in the Premier League and it is their weakness when leaving the Birmingham city boundary which poses the greatest threat to their hopes of a top-five finish.
Selhurst Park, in truth, is rarely a happy hunting ground for Villa and any chances of a third win over Palace at the venue since 1980 evaporated in a messy second half in south London.
Not even a change of system, which saw Emery put his team on the defensive, could save them from their usual experience in these environs as they suffered a defeat which brought them crashing back to earth from the high of Saturday’s win over Chelsea.
Ismaila Sarr celebrated his 27th birthday by scoring twice, either side of Jean Philippe-Mateta’s strike, before Eddie Nketiah netted in stoppage time to make this another sobering affair at the same ground Villa were beaten 5-0 on the final day of last season.
For seven minutes in the second half they had actually been level and growing in confidence thanks to Morgan Rogers’ sublime leveller.
Emery could also claim his team did not get the rub of the decisions, Rogers seeing an earlier equaliser chalked off by a ludicrously tight VAR offside call. Jacob Ramsey also saw decent appeals for a penalty dismissed.
Yet by the finish it was impossible to escape the conclusion Villa were simply not good enough. The injury crisis which has plagued their campaign since Christmas, meanwhile, continued with the half-time loss of Emi Martinez.
By then Villa already trailed to Sarr’s opener, while it was Robin Olsen who was beaten three times after the break.
High-profile loanees Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford might have been the stars of Saturday’s comeback against Chelsea but both were on the bench as Emery, who explained in the build-up how his first aim would be to stop Palace playing, named a starting XI which included Lamare Bogarde playing in a back three system which matched the hosts.
Axel Disasi also returned to defence, with Andres Garcia and Lucas Digne operating as wing-backs.
It initially had the effect of both teams cancelling each other out and though Villa looked the more threatening of the teams in attack, chances were sparse.
Youri Tielemans could not get enough on a Garcia cross, while Jacob Ramsey finished neatly past Dean Henderson in the home goal but only after having strayed offside in the build-up.
Palace looked subdued but from their first set piece took the lead. Eberechi Eze’s initial delivery was cleared but Adam Wharton returned the ball into the box, picking out an unmarked Chris Richards. Martinez parried on the header but Sarr was there to sweep the ball home.
From there Villa's defence looked shaky for the rest of the match and having been untroubled to that point, they could have lost the match completely in the next 10 minutes.
But Sarr blazed over after Martinez had saved his volley, before Mateta failed to make decent contact on a Sarr cross.
Instead Villa were left feeling frustrated to be behind at the break when Rogers’ 42nd minute leveller was ruled out following a lengthy VAR check. Ollie Watkins, who had squared the ball back to his team-mate after racing on to his pass, looked onside on replays but the video ref determined he was a fraction beyond the last man, to the bemusement of many.
As it was Watkins would get his assist and Rogers his goal seven minutes into the second half.
Olsen, who had replaced Emi Martinez at the break, kicked long, Watkins flicked the header on and Rogers first showed more desire to beat Maxence Lacroix to the ball and then skill to spin and fire a left-footed shot inside the post with Henderson rooted to the spot.
Villa briefly had their tails up but before the hour mark were behind again. Having scored from a long goal-kick, a short one got them into trouble and Eze was able to do enough to direct Wharton’s cross into the path of Mateta, who took a touch before lashing a finish beyond Olsen.
The visitors wanted a penalty when Ramsey tumbled under the challenge of Daniel Munoz but neither on-field referee Sam Barrott or video assistant Gillett saw any infringement.
Emery introduced Asensio and Rashford midway through the half but within three minutes Villa were in a deeper hole.
Wharton picked out the run of Munoz down the right and his cross was hooked in by Sarr for his second of the match.
Villa rarely looked like threatening a comeback from there and their misery was complete when Nketiah prodded home from a yard out in stoppage time.
Palace (3-4-2-1): Henderson, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Munoz, Wharton (Kamada 78), Hughes (Lerma 58), Mitchell, Sarr (Nketiah 86), Eze, Mateta Subs not used: Clyne, Esse, Chilwell, Devenny, Kporha, Turner (gk).
Villa (3-4-2-1): Martinez (Olsen HT), Disasi, Konsa, Bogarde, Garcia (Bailey HT), Tielemans, McGinn, Digne (Maatsen 78), Rogers, Ramsey (Rashford 68), Watkins (Asensio 68) Subs not used: Mings, Malen, Jimoh, Zych (gk).
