Crystal Palace frustrated Aston Villa again with a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park.
Oliver Glasner’s side are currently unbeaten in their last seven games against Villa, winning five of those, but their winless streak has now grown to eight in all competitions.
Although the number of matches was small, both teams had chances to win. Brennan Johnson almost marked his home debut at Selhurst Park with a goal, but a chip save from Emiliano Martinez kept the scoreline level.
Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell (left) attempts a header towards goal.
Ollie Watkins suffered the same fate, as his late header just missed the outside of the post after being thwarted by Dean Henderson.
Villa looked good but faltered as time went on and Palace pushed for an early goal but fell short.
“I think it was a two-half game,” Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa said that night, impressed along with England team-mate Marc Gehi, knowing Thomas Tuchel was watching from the stands.
“I thought we had the upper hand in the first half. We kept the ball well and created some chances. In the second half they put more pressure on us and created some chances themselves.”
A point was a decent result on a night that lacked life in the final third. Palace will be without 10 first-team players for this game and given their lack of depth and recent struggles, they will walk away with their heads held high, but the same cannot be said for their opponents.
Villa’s lackluster performance following a 1-1 draw with Brighton and a chance to move ahead of second-placed Manchester City will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of manager Unai Emery, who is yet to beat Glasner and has come down the tunnel with full-time oomph.
Villa’s manager later admitted that the disagreement with match officials was due to VAR not confirming Villa’s second-half penalty shout after Youri Tielemans was held down in the area from a corner kick.
The only VAR check of the game came in the second half when Johnson went down in the area following a challenge from Victor Lindelof.
“I don’t know who was on VAR, but if they were checking for a possible penalty on Brennan Johnson, it was clear to me that they should have checked for a possible penalty on Tielemans’ corner,” he said.
“He was restrained for a second, two seconds, three seconds. I think that’s the action.”
Emery: “We dominated in the first half, one point gives us confidence”
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery told Sky Sports.
“We dominated in the first half and controlled the game with possession, time to get good positioning and through passes that created chances.
“We didn’t create much, but we did enough to score one goal and we didn’t give them many chances. They only had one transition and one good chance, but we saved them.
“In the second half we started well but they were pushing us and creating more chances in our box. It wasn’t a clear chance but we had to react and the players reacted in the last 15 minutes to get the win.”
“I think we had a chance to win the game in the last 10 minutes. One point gives us confidence that we can keep winning.”
Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans battle for possession
Glassner: The game could have gone either way.
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner told Sky Sports.
“The game could have gone either way. It was a game where both teams had two or three chances to score.
“In the end both teams should be given a point. Huge respect to the players, the team and the way they played.
“If you look at the first half, you can see that we are not full of confidence at the moment, but this is what happens when you don’t get results. We always came together and created our own situations. So I’m really proud of the team today and we got a very good point.”
Guehi: That’s an important point for us, and we’d like to build on that if possible.
Crystal Palace captain Mal Guehi told Sky Sports:
“I’m proud of our team today. We know they like to play in the pocket, so it was important for us to lock down the middle and show them outside.”
“It’s not always easy, but everyone worked hard and we had our chances in the break. Another day they play.
“It’s an important point. It’s really important. The league is very tough this year so any point is worth it. It’s good to get a point tonight and I hope we can build on it.”
