Dean Smith was the last Aston Villa manager to lose five matches in a row, and he was sacked for that failure. The situation was less dire for Unai Emery, but he needed to halt a run of four consecutive defeats, even though he might be left questioning how his team failed to beat Crystal Palace. Ollie Watkins and Ross Barkley twice equalized for Aston Villa, who also saw a Youri Tielemans penalty saved, after being caught on the counter by Palace, resulting in Ismaila Sarr and Justin Devenny giving them the lead. Villa dominated from the start but lacked the decisive edge expected of a Champions League side.
The home supporters at Villa Park were somewhat subdued in the early minutes as the hosts had the majority of possession but looked passive with it. The mood worsened when Palace quickly broke in the fourth minute, as Jean-Philippe Mateta sliced open the defence and Sarr sprinted from the halfway line, holding off Ian Maatsen as he went before slotting beyond Emiliano Martínez to the sound of silence, except in one corner of the ground. Villa were measured and composed in their buildup play, pinning Palace back for long periods. Plenty of crosses were sent into the box but Dean Henderson and his three centre-backs were able to deal with them. Watkins was the first to test the goalkeeper when Leon Bailey played a long pass from deep, allowing the England striker to stretch his legs before smashing a shot towards the bottom corner which Henderson did well to keep out.
Unai Emery was clearly concerned on the touchline, sending out constant instructions and gesticulations in an attempt to make his side less ponderous in order to turn things around. It paid off when Villa won the ball inside their own half and moved it quickly to John McGinn who saw another clever Watkins run. The weight of the pass was enough to tease Henderson to think he could beat the striker to the ball but there was only one winner, allowing Watkins to round the goalkeeper and tap home for his first goals in six Villa games. The equaliser further energised Villa and Bailey soon rattled the crossbar as they looked to complete the turnaround. Bailey was the protagonist for the penalty as Will Hughes stepped on his ankle inside the box. The referee Tim Robinson gave nothing but was sent over to the screen by colleagues. It seemed harsh to overturn the original decision and Hughes looked at the replay on the big screen with a confused smile. There was a further grin when Henderson dived to his left to superbly palm away Youri Tielemans’ spot-kick.
Henderson was celebrating in front of the away end almost immediately when Palace broke from the resulting corner and Devenny swept home his first goal for the club on the 21-year-old’s second appearance for Palace after a flowing move from back to front. The visitors had their backs against the wall with 11 men consistently behind the ball as they aimed to hold on for victory. It seemed inevitable they would fail to do so and it was Barkley who flicked in the equaliser from a Tielemans corner. The midfielder was given too much space at the near post before running away sucking his thumb in celebration. Jeffrey Schlupp almost provided a surprise winner for Palace when he hit the post with 10 minutes to play but they two had to settle for a point. Juventus are next up for Villa and they will need to sharpen up.
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