Crystal Palace kept up their impressive record against Aston Villa with a convincing 3-0 victory at Villa Park , their fifth win in the last six meetings between the sides, Softfootball reports.
The big talking point before kick-off was the absence of Emiliano Martínez from Villa’s squad, with Softfootball understanding that the goalkeeper’s future is still uncertain ahead of deadline day. Despite that distraction, Unai Emery’s men started on the front foot, and should have gone ahead inside five minutes when Youri Tielemans, left completely unmarked, headed over from close range.
But Villa’s early energy was undone after 20 minutes when stand-in keeper Marco Bizot brought down Daichi Kamada in the box. Jean-Philippe Mateta, who had missed from the spot when these sides met at Wembley in last season’s FA Cup semi-final, showed no nerves this time as he calmly sent Bizot the wrong way to give Palace the lead.
Villa struggled to create much in the first half but nearly snatched an equaliser just before the break. John McGinn’s long ball caused chaos in the Palace defence, and Ollie Watkins’ strike looked destined for the net until Dean Henderson pulled off a brilliant reflex save.
At half-time, Emery turned to his bench, bringing on Emi Buendia to try and inject life into the attack. Villa did improve, and Tielemans tested Henderson again from range, but once more the Palace goalkeeper was up to the task.
Then came the sucker punch. Against the run of play, Palace doubled their lead midway through the second half when centre-back Marc Guéhi stepped up like a striker, curling a sensational strike into the far corner past a helpless Bizot.
For a Villa side still without a single Premier League goal this season, the challenge looked almost impossible, though their 19-game unbeaten home run gave fans a sliver of hope. But that hope was crushed with just over 10 minutes left as Ismaïla Sarr bravely headed home at the far post to continue his remarkable scoring streak against Villa four in a row now.
Crystal Palace via their official X handle posted a celebatory reaction of Jean phillipe Mateta who scored the team’s first goal alongside teammates inside the dressing room, watch below ;
Villa pushed desperately for a late consolation, but Palace’s defence stood firm, leaving Emery’s side goalless again and sitting in the bottom three heading into the international break. Palace, meanwhile, have struck a perfect balance between Europe and the league, unbeaten in the Premier League while also booking their place in the Conference League group stage a dream start to the season for Oliver Glasner’s men.
