I went into yesterday’s game expecting a reaction from our players. There has been much talk about Unai Emery opting against his usual trip home during an International break to work and try and find a solution for Villa’s recent poor form.
The bizarre thing is that it’s not just Villa that is struggling in the Premier League. Arsenal and Manchester City have both experienced a run of poor games in a league that seems more unpredictable than ever this season.
My one worry is that we have been found out. We are hearing more and more managers say that they know what to expect from Villa and we are being exposed time and time again by counter-attacks.
Emery has had a good time since coming to Villa but he’s never been through a spell like this so it will be interesting to see how he turns things around because right now we are very easy to play against.
Villa were without Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey, Ezri Konsa and Amadou Onana who were all injured but Ross Barkley was handed a start after he returned from injury while Matty Cash found himself on the bench.
The visitors took the lead inside the opening five minutes. Jean-Philippe Mateta picked up the ball just inside his half and had time to turn before playing a through ball for Ismaïla Sarr, beating Villa’s high-line and despite the best efforts from Ian Maatsen the midfielder was able to slot home.
Emery’s side dominated the ball but always looked open at the back with Palace happy to sit deep and counter when the opportunity arose.
Villa got themselves back in the game just after the half-hour mark when John McGinn released Ollie Watkins who was able to table the ball around Dean Henderson in the Palace goal to make it 1-1.
Moments later the home side rattled the woodwork when Morgan Rogers set Leon Bailey away down the right and the Jamaican cut inside only for his effort to smash off the corner of the post and crossbar.
Just before the break, Villa were awarded a penalty after Will Hughes fouled Bailey in the box. The officials originally missed the foul but VAR overturned the decision. Youri Tielemans stepped up but his effort was fantastically saved by Henderson.
Against the run of place, Palace found themselves ahead just before half-time. Cheick Doucouré played a ball, once again exploiting Villas’s defensive frailties to Sarr who broke down the right before cutting the ball across the goal, missing Mateta but finding Justin Devenny who slotted the ball into the back of the net for his first-ever professional goal.
Villa continued to dominate the play after the break but it wasn’t until the 77th minute that they got back on level terms. Substitute Lucas Digne crossed the ball over from a corner kick, finding Barkley was was able to head the ball into the goal to make it 2-2.
Palace could have come away with all three points late on but Emi Martinez was able to turn Jeffrey Schlupp’s effort onto the post meaning both sides had to settle for a share of the points.
Emery: “I think we deserved to win, but every team has very good tactics, very good game plans, like they had today,” he reflected.
“They played in transition and scored two goals, but we didn’t concede one corner at all in the first half and we were getting into their box a number of times.
“We were dominating the match with our positioning. We missed some chances, like the penalty, to score one more.”
Juventus are the visitors to Villa Park on Wednesday as Aston Villa are back in Champions League action.
