Villa Hand Eagles First Away Defeat In VAR Inspired Fightback

With two important players missing for the trip to Villa in Marc Guehi and Jefferson Lerma, Palace had to also contend with the loss of Roy Hodgson who was hospitalised in build up to kick off, but a spirited performance ended in another loss at Villa Park.

MATCH INFORMATION

• 3pm – 16th September 2023
• Aston Villa 3-1 Crystal Palace
• Villa Park, Trinity Road, Birmingham B6 6HE

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 4 Rob HOLDING, 17 Nathaniel CLYNE, 23 Malcolm EBIOWEI, 30 Dean HENDERSON, 31 Remi MATTHEWS, 44 Jairo RIEDEWALD

OPPOSITION LINE-UP

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 15 Alex MORENO, 16 Calum CHAMBERS, 17 Clement LENGLET. 22 Robin OLSEN, 42 Filip MARSCHALL

TEB VERDICT

Much was conspiring against the Eagles before kick-off with the news breaking on Hodgson being taken to hospital added to the fact that two key players were missing. Having said that, Palace got through a first half which the hosts failed to take their chances with the visitors having a few of their own.

Taking the lead soon into the second half as Edouard scored his fourth Premier League goal was just the medicine that was needed, with a well taken strike following a great ball in from Mateta who had replaced Ayew midway through the first half.

Chances came and went for the hosts but a cracker from Duran who had only entered the fray minutes later looked to have secured a share of the points. Little did we know that our foe Darren England would scupper any chances with that, and a lengthy VAR check upheld his decision to award a dubious penalty which was converted. Not a lot can be said about the third, the game had gone.

Chris Richards in for Guehi was excellent as was Will Hughes in the midfield in place of Lerma. The American international must surely stake a claim for a starting spot at right back in place of Joel Ward who continues to make mistakes this season and looks easy to beat in most games. Elsewhere, the link up play between Edouard and Mateta was good to see, particularly for the goal, but there is a concern about Ayew who left the pitch after taking a heavy knock. Hopefully, he will not be joining the list of players in the treatment room.

Eze was not his dominant self but showed glimpses, which just goes to show that we are looking for him to do something and if he does not, there is not much else in the line up that you would hope to step up to help him until Michael Olise returns to action.

POST GAME QUOTES

PADDY MCCARTHY

“I’m disappointed for the players, the game plan worked for a large spell of the game, but I’m disappointed that we didn’t get anything from the game. The team shape and the effort were great. We knew it was going to be a tough side, but the boys who stepped in were great. The result just leaves a really bitter taste in our mouths. If it takes five minutes to make a decision, that tells you everything you need to know.”

UNAI EMERY

“Yes, of course today was a difficult match like everyone is. We played very well, created chances, and didn’t concede a lot in our box. We said at half time to keep going and control the game like we were doing. They have a very good team and good players and they did that transition and scored the goal. Then it was a difficult moment. We were playing more with our hearts than with our minds in the last twenty minutes and sometimes you need that. At the end we deserved to win. We scored three goals so I’m very happy because after their goal it was a difficult moment and we really reacted very well.”

MATCH STATISTICS

POSITION IN THE TABLE (at the final whistle)

UPCOMING FIXTURES

23/09/23 Fulham (h) – Premier League 3pm

26/09/23 Manchester United (a) – EFL Cup 8pm

30/09/23 Manchester United (a) – Premier League 3pm

07/10/23 Nottingham Forest (h) – Premier League 5.30pm