Palace Defeated By Villa Without Much Of A Whimper

The brave souls that opted to Ride To Villa in aid of the Palace For Life Foundation raised over £40,000, and they probably deserved better for their efforts, as did the travelling Palace fans as the Eagles put in a disappointing performance on the road.

TIME/ DATE/ VENUE

• 3pm
• 4^th March 2023
• Villa Park, Trinity Road, Birmingham B6 6HE

RESULT

Aston Villa 1-0 Crystal Palace

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 2 Joel WARD, 4 Luka MILIVOJEVIC, 22 Odsonne EDOUARD, 26 Chris RICHARDS, 41 Joe WHITWORTH

OPPOSITION LINE-UP

UNSED SUBSTITUTES – 9 Bertrand TRAORE, 18 Ashley YOUNG, 25 Robin OLSEN, 38 Viljami SINISALO

TEB VERDICT

Not a huge amount to say about this game and result. Most agreed this was a good line up and one that everyone wanted to see but it ended up being a rather toothless display. It perhaps goes to show that all the talent In this squad needs to be tempered a little, or maybe it is the manager and coaching staff. It is very difficult to put a finger on the problems but for every point taken from the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United, there is a loss against a team that we should be doing better against.

It was a result that we did not really need heading into a run of three tough fixtures, against the top two in the Premier League and a team in very good form chasing down the European spots.

There is a feeling that we are starting to look over our shoulders in this form and things must improve to avoid being dragged into any silliness as the season winds down.  

POST GAME QUOTES

PATRICK VIEIRA

“The disallowed goal was an important moment of the game then after, of course, when the goal we concede is an own goal then there is the sending off. Both teams did not create very much. But at the end, the details went against us but the disallowed goal was important, of course.”

“The red card was the decision of the referee, it’s something we have to respect and go on. After that we managed to stay with the front two and defended really well. We had a couple of situations but didn’t create too much.”

“Of course getting a result is important. But we had a couple of tough games and at times we defended and played quite well. Today that wasn’t really the case.

“Overall, we knew how tough that run of games was going to be. It’s important for us to get back and compete because we know that we can compete against teams like Manchester City. We did it against Liverpool and always at home we find the strength to compete at the level we can do.

“I’m not more worried than I was after the game against Liverpool. It’s important for us to bounce back and start winning games. Of course it is tight and we have to keep working well and working hard.”

UNAI EMERY

“Our idea was to win with a clean sheet – we did it. To keep everybody confident, it was an important victory. I’m very happy.

“Of course, we can analyse the match and the first half and second half were very different. The first half was better, we deserved to win that half. They had a goal but it was offside but in that first half, we were playing like we are trying to do.

“Second half is a little bit strange. We weren’t very fluid but today we focus on the clean sheet and the win.”

MATCH STATISTICS

POSITION IN THE TABLE (at the final whistle)

UPCOMING FIXTURES

11/03/23 Manchester City (h) – Premier League (5.30pm)

15/03/23 Brighton (a) – Premier League (7.30pm)

19/03/23 Arsenal (a) – Premier League (2pm)