Palace Demolish Villa To Banish Poor Home Form

You could say that the score line was flattering as the visitors could have easily been leading at the break, but the Eagles blew Villa away with an excellent second half performance.

MATCH INFORMATION

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 17 Nathaniel CLYNE, 21 Romain ESSE, 25 Ben CHILWELL, 30 Matt TURNER, 55 Justin DEVENNY, 58 Caleb KPORHA

OPPOSITION LINE-UP

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 5 Tyrone MINGS, 17 Donyell MALEN, 48 Oliwer Zych, 56 Jamaldeen JIMOH

TEB VERDICT

First things first, the disappointing home form can now hopefully become a thing of the past, but even the most positive Palace fan would not have predicted such a result against Villa.

The result blew the apparent Selhurst hoodoo out of the water and means that the Eagles have now scored 9 goals against Villa at home across 2 games – quite a statistic!

While the game could well have gone either way in the first half, the hosts turned on the style in the second to end any hope the visitors had of getting anything from the game. An impressive brace from birthday boy Ismaila Sarr adds more fuel to the fire that he is fast becoming a fan favourite. Add to that another Jean-Philippe Mateta goal, and a first Premier League goal in a Palace shirt for Eddie Nketiah, it was much more than a satisfactory evening for Oliver Glasner and his men.

There is so much to play for between now and the rest of the season, and Glasner has his side right where he wants them, capable of beating anyone on their day.

Too many notable individual performances to mention, but a game where both wing backs provided assists, Adam Warton returning the starting line up is no coincidence, and a much needed goal for Nketiah off the bench is plenty to go with.

POST GAME QUOTES

OLIVER GLASNER

“Everybody is happy. Everybody is pleased with the win. Congrats to the players for this great performance – really pleased. Momentum of the game can change when you face a team with the quality of Villa. We didn’t allow the momentum changes, and we kept going. We were very aggressive and waited for our chances. We scored fantastic goals, all the credit to the players. They matched us, but the players know what they have to do, and they did it in a fantastic intensity. We talked about what we want to do and what we need to do. The result is the consequence of a great performance.”

JEAN-PHILIPPE MATETA

“Perfect night. We stayed patient, we knew the chances were coming and we stuck to the plan. I am happy. I work hard and when I play with Adam, I can score every game.”

EDDIE NKETIAH

“Nice to get the win and the first one in the Premier League. Nice to share that moment. It was a good performance. First and second half we reacted well. A dominant performance, but we were clinical in the second half. It was nice to win at home and put that losing run to bed. The mood is buzzing, the music is bouncing and everyone is happy.”

ADAM WHARTON

“Great win. The fans were unbelievable. We had to be patient, Villa are a top side. We know if we stick to the plan we would get the chances. Eddie, buzzing for him, first goal in the Premier League for us. The home form has not been the best, but we are not thinking about that. We know the tactics that the gaffer has given us and if we stick to the plan, we know we have a great chance in every game we play.”

UNAI EMERY

“We were competing well until the first goal we conceded. Good positioning and were dominating the match. We have one goal, ruled out. The first chance they had, they scored. Then they got some transitioning. Second half we tried to come back, but then we scored, and we were excited and motivated to try to continue controlling the game with our positioning. They scored the second goal, and we lost our positioning, we conceded transitions, and they scored two more goals. It was a tough result. We competed well, but it is not enough – we move on.”

MATCH STATISTICS

POSITION IN THE TABLE (at the final whistle)

UPCOMING FIXTURES