Aston Villa 1 Crystal Palace 0 - Report
Joachim Andersen’s own goal earned Villa victory in a dogged contest with 10-man Crystal Palace.
The centre-back turned Matty Cash’s 27th minute cross into his own net to decide a match of few chances.
Ollie Watkins missed Villa’s best just before the break as his Premier League scoring streak ended at five games.
Palace, who saw Wilfried Zaha’s early strike ruled out by a marginal offside decision, had Cheick Doucoure sent-off just past the hour mark.
Analysis
The Mali international was booked twice in the space of five minutes and the first of those, for a foul on Boubacar Kamara, provided Villa’s only negative as the latter left the pitch with the help of the club’s medical staff.
Otherwise this just what boss Unai Emery would have desired as his team recorded their first home clean sheet of his reign.
In terms of entertainment, the match was the polar opposite of recent games at Villa Park, which had delivered goals galore.
But while this game might have sent neutrals to sleep, Emery will have loved it. Villa remain 11th in the table but are now just five points behind seventh-placed Fulham and a possible European place.
Leon Bailey, who started the day on the front pages of a tabloid newspaper, was one of two players dropped to the bench. The other was Lucas Digne, with Alex Moreno and Emi Buendia the men drafted in.
Palace welcomed back Zaha after a month out with a hamstring injury and the Nigeria international thought he had marked his return with a goal inside five minutes when he ran onto Eberechi Eze’s through ball, rounded Emi Martinez and slotted into an empty net.
Villa were left breathing a sigh of relief when the subsequent VAR check revealed Zaha to have been just a fraction beyond last man Ezri Konsa when Eze made the pass.
The hosts were next to threaten when Kamara picked out the run of Cash and Vicente Guaita flew off his line to force the right-back into a shot which hit the goalkeeper, hit himself and went behind for a corner.
Otherwise, it was pretty uneventful until Villa took the lead just before the half-hour mark. McGinn was the architect, splitting the visiting defence with a right-footed pass to release Cash. The latter’s low cross was equally as good, leaving Andersen no choice but to dive in ahead of Watkins, the ball hitting his left leg and then the right before flying beyond his keeper and into the net.
Watkins had seen little of the ball but had the crowd on their feet when he won possession on the edge of his own box and then charged 70 yards before being hacked down by Ayew.
A minute later, he really should have made it six goals in successive matches when he latched onto Buendia’s pass. The first touch was perfect, the second sent the ball wide of the target.
It meant the half time whistle went with neither team having managed attempt on target and that remained the case when Doucoure was dismissed just past the hour mark.
His first, lunging challenge from behind on Kamara forced the Villa man to leave the field with the help of the medical staff. The France international’s replacement, Calum Chambers, had been on the pitch barely two minutes when Doucoure also left him in a heap, having mistimed his challenge and caught him late.
The match had entered the final 20 minutes before McGinn became the first Villa player to have a shot on target but his effort was too close to Guaita.
Zaha went close for Palace when he shot wide from the edge of the box but the visitors rarely threatened a leveller.
Key Moments
27 GOAL Villa take the lead. John McGinn sets Matty Cash away down the right and Joachim Andersen the low cross into his own net.
63 RED CARD Palace midfielder Cheick Doucoure is sent off after being booked twice in the space of five minutes for fouls on Boubacar Kamara and Calum Chambers.
Teams
Villa (4-4-2): Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Moreno (Digne 69), McGinn, Luiz, Kamara (Chambers 59), Ramsey (Bailey 69), Buendia, Watkins (Duran 85) Subs not used: Traore, Young, Sinisalo (gk), Olsen (gk).
Palace (4-2-3-1): Guaita, Clyne, Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Lokonga (McArthur 81), Doucoure, Olise (Mateta 67), Eze (Ahamada 75), Zaha, Ayew (Hughes 75) Subs not used: Ward, Milivojevic, Edouard, Richards, Whitworth (gk).
