Analysis: Late show proves Aston Villa have plenty in reserve
Time will reveal any long-term implications of Saturday’s thrilling late turnaround for Villa.
For now, 14 barmy minutes which began with the ball leaving Jhon Duran’s boot and ended with Leon Bailey’s shot hitting the back of the net stands merely as an early momentum shift in their season.
From looking increasingly destined to fall to a defeat the like of which can rankle for weeks, if not months, Villa’s players instead left the pitch amid a mood of euphoria, their third win of the campaign leaving them nicely placed in the top half of the Premier League table.
A 10th consecutive home win in all competitions might not have played out quite how Unai Emery planned it but sometimes, as the Villa boss later hinted, you must simply embrace the chaos.
Most significantly, at the start of a month which poses the first serious test of his squad’s strength in depth, the manner of this victory was a big early tick. The three players Emery brought off the bench in the second half all contributed to the comeback, Duran and Bailey most obviously with their goals, while Youri Tielemans was involved in the build-up to the two stoppage time strikes which wrestled the points away from Crystal Palace.
It was Tielemans who, with the match back level at 1-1, picked out the run of Ollie Watkins which led to the striker tumbling under the challenge of defender Chris Richards.
