Crystal Palace produced a ruthless, well-structured performance to beat Aston Villa 3–0 at Villa Park, snapping the hosts’ 19-game home league unbeaten run and exposing early-season frailties.
Jean-Philippe Mateta opened the scoring from the spot after Marco Bizot, deputising for the unavailable Emiliano Martínez, tripped Daichi Kamada.
Marc Guehi then delivered the game’s signature moment, striding out of defence before curling a superb second into the top corner—an emphatic flourish amid transfer-window speculation linking him with a move away.
Ismaïla Sarr’s back-post header sealed the result, prompting an exodus of frustrated home supporters.
Villa, who are yet to score a league goal this season, looked disjointed despite carrying attacking intent; Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins drew routine saves, while summer arrival Evann Guessand was withdrawn at half-time after a quiet debut.
Emery admitted Martínez was “not available” amid outside interest, a distraction he conceded has not helped a side already grappling with defensive jitters in games the Argentina international does not start.
For Palace and Oliver Glasner, it was another chapter in a happy recent rivalry: unbeaten in six against Villa—including a 3–0 FA Cup semi-final win last season—the Eagles executed their plan with clarity, compressing space centrally and punishing errors on transition.
With Sunderland up next after the international break, Palace can build on an unbeaten league start, while Villa face an anxious deadline day and urgent questions about balance, focus, and creativity in the final third.
As the away fans serenaded their captain—“Marc Guehi, I wanna know how you scored that goal”—the gulf in cohesion told the story of the night.
Jean-Philippe Mateta opened the scoring from the spot after Marco Bizot, deputising for the unavailable Emiliano Martínez, tripped Daichi Kamada.
Marc Guehi then delivered the game’s signature moment, striding out of defence before curling a superb second into the top corner—an emphatic flourish amid transfer-window speculation linking him with a move away.
Ismaïla Sarr’s back-post header sealed the result, prompting an exodus of frustrated home supporters.
Villa, who are yet to score a league goal this season, looked disjointed despite carrying attacking intent; Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins drew routine saves, while summer arrival Evann Guessand was withdrawn at half-time after a quiet debut.
Emery admitted Martínez was “not available” amid outside interest, a distraction he conceded has not helped a side already grappling with defensive jitters in games the Argentina international does not start.
For Palace and Oliver Glasner, it was another chapter in a happy recent rivalry: unbeaten in six against Villa—including a 3–0 FA Cup semi-final win last season—the Eagles executed their plan with clarity, compressing space centrally and punishing errors on transition.
With Sunderland up next after the international break, Palace can build on an unbeaten league start, while Villa face an anxious deadline day and urgent questions about balance, focus, and creativity in the final third.
As the away fans serenaded their captain—“Marc Guehi, I wanna know how you scored that goal”—the gulf in cohesion told the story of the night.
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