If this was the last game before their star players leave for bigger clubs, few Crystal Palace fans will forget Marc Guéhi’s farewell gift as his brilliant goal rubber stamped the deserved victory that ended the Premier League’s longest current unbeaten home run.
Aston Villa lost their first home league game in 20, after 372 days, but can now claim a different record. They are the last team in England’s top four divisions yet to score a league goal this season.
A highly underwhelming summer’s transfer window was compounded by yet another disappointing result against Palace. We will never know whether Emiliano Martínez would have saved Guéhi’s peach of a shot as Villa’s regular goalkeeper was unavailable for selection amid reports of Manchester United’s renewed interest.
“But I don’t have the final decision. You know about Adam and Eve and the apple? The whole situation is tempting. If you want to progress, we have to keep him. If we accept the offer, maybe falling a step back, we say OK.”
Palace dispatched Villa by this scoreline at Wembley before winning the FA Cup final in May in a run of 14 games unbeaten, their best such run as a top-flight club. They have won five and drawn one of their last six games with these opponents over the past two years.
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Yet as Palace continue to defy the odds and their departing star players, Guéhi’s potential transfer to Liverpool following Eberechi Eze’s move to Arsenal and Michael Olise’s to Bayern Munich last year, Villa seem to be in danger of standing still, if consolidating themselves as a top-six club in England for a third successive season can be deemed so.
After three games, they are 19th, throwing their miserable summer’s transfer activity under an even harsher spotlight. Emery is convinced the bad vibes will dissipate once the transfer window shuts and the players return for their away games at Everton and Sunderland before commencing on their Europa League campaign.
Though Villa fielded a very offensive team, once Palace went ahead their fogginess re-emerged. Youri Tielemans could have headed home after corners at either end of the first half, but it was Jean-Philippe Mateta’s penalty that established the tone after Marco Bizot, the Dutch goalkeeper signed from Brest in the summer, felled Daichi Kamada. Only Mohamed Salah (13) has scored more Premier League goals than Mateta’s 11 since the start of this year.
Villa regained the ascendancy before succumbing to Guéhi’s gambit. The Palace captain started the move from deep in his own half before playing the ball wide to Kamada. When Kamada then won a loose ball off John McGinn, the England defender curled a sumptuous shot into the far top corner.
Palace’s win was rounded off when Maxence Lacroix headed on Jefferson Lerma’s long throw and, at the far post, Ismaïla Sarr nodded in. “Aston Villa, it’s happened again”, sang the triumphant travelling fans, thoroughly enjoying their 270-mile round trip on a Sunday night.
