Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace. Premier League.
Villa Park.
Match report and free highlights as Dean Smith's Villa continue their upward trajectory despite having Tyrone Mings sent off in the first half; goals from Bertrand Traore, Kortney Hause and Anwar El Ghazi did the damage
Sunday 27 December 2020 15:44, UK
Aston Villa survived playing over a half of football with 10 men to canter past a woeful Crystal Palace 3-0, scoring two of those goals despite being a man down.
Bertrand Traore gave Villa a lead they deserved (5) but their momentum in the match looked to be halted when Tyrone Mings (44) was dismissed for a second yellow card after two clashes with Wilfried Zaha.
However, the numerical disadvantage didn't hamper Villa's play on the break as Palace struggled to put their defence under any pressure and Kourtney Hause headed home Villa's second (66).
The chances kept on coming for Dean Smith's team and Anwar El Ghazi stuck home a sensational third (76) - one of five shots on target Villa had with 10 men.
The result moves Villa up to sixth place in the Premier League as they sit just six points off top spot having played 13 games.
Following on from Palace's 7-0 drubbing against Liverpool, there will be serious questions for Roy Hodgson to answer.
The pattern of the afternoon could have been very different as Palace nearly made the perfect start when Zaha was played clean through, catching Mings on his heels, inside the first minute but Martinez produced a good save.
But Palace failed to build on their opening with Villa bossing the midfield and picking up all the loose balls.
And it was Villa who took the lead with less than five minutes on the clock.
Traore played in Ollie Watkins down the right and was on hand to thump the ball into the net when goalkeeper Vicente Guaita parried Watkins' shot into the middle of the box.
Traore almost grabbed a second in the 17th minute, cutting in from the right and beating Guaita with a shot that bounced away off a post.
The Palace 'keeper then denied Jack Grealish after he had taken advantage of more holes in the visitors' defence.
Palace thought they should have had a penalty when Patrick van Aanholt went down under a clumsy challenge from Matty Cash.
Having decided against giving a spot-kick, referee Anthony Taylor went to have a second look at the pitch-side monitor before sticking with his original decision to conclude a lengthy delay.
With 39 minutes on the clock, Mings and Zaha were both shown yellow cards for some argy-bargy following a foul by the Palace man on John McGinn.
The duo remained engaged in battle up until half-time and Mings lost his cool just before the break when he stuck out an arm to block Zaha and was shown a second yellow.
Smith reacted by withdrawing Traore, who had been probably the best player on the pitch, to allow Ezri Konsa to come on.
Despite their numerical advantage, Palace froze when tasked with putting Villa under pressure. Time after time their ploy of working the ball wide ended with a terrible cross into the middle.
Meanwhile, Villa were confident and played clever on the counter.
And the second goal that arrived in the 66th minute was no more than they deserved. Palace failed to defend an El Ghazi free-kick, Watkins headed against the crossbar and Hause followed up to score his second Premier League goal for Villa.
With Palace forced to commit more men forward, Villa looked even more dangerous, and, after Watkins saw a shot blocked, the impressive winger teed-up El Ghazi for his fourth goal in four games - a fine, curling effort into the top corner.
He's been an ever-present this season in one of the meanest defence in the Premier League - it's time to start talking about the efficient work Targett does defensively. Villa have now kept eight clean sheets in the Premier League this season, more than any side, while their run of four shut-outs in a row is their best in the competition since February 2010. No player made more tackles in this match than Targett's six as Palace found absolutely no route to goal down his side. His forays forward have been reined back this season and it's helped him defensively.
There aren't many better defenders than him in one-on-one situations.
Aston Villa boss Dean Smith: "Yeah, I wanted a good performance and we certainly got that.
"We were indebted to Emi Martinez in the first minute, a good save.
"But our counter-threat was there for all to see, probably could've scored a couple more.
"Unfortunately Tyrone got sent off, but there's nobody I'd chose in the Premier League to lead the line with 10 men over Ollie Watkins."
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson: "I didn't see the 3-0 coming at half-time. We'd shown enough in the first half to suggest we could get back in it, especially when Mings was sent off.
"It didn't work out. We were hit severely on the counter-attack.
"Quite confident at half-time we could win and we would create goal chances and get the ball in and around their penalty area.
"I didn't see enough in the second half and saw some very good counterattacking from Villa.
"The worrying fact and saddening fact was this was an opportunity to get back in and we didn't. Villa were worth their win."
Villa are back in action in just 48 hours with a trip to Chelsea on December 28, as are Palace, who play Leicester City.
