ROSS BARKLEY rode to the rescue with a stunning header to salvage a point for Villa – and easily pay back the £5million Unai Emery invested in him this summer.
The bargain buy from Luton Town has now clawed back two crucial points for his boss in his last two appearances against Bournemouth and Palace.
Incredibly, without the 30-year-old’s goals the Spaniard would be looking at SIX straight defeats on the spin for the first time in his star-studded career!
But in the end, a draw was a fair result as Emi Martinez denied Palace with a stunning save to deny Jeff Schlupp a late winner.
Emery was certainly pumped up for this one as he looked to jump-start Villa’s stuttering season – it’s just a pity his players took so long to get the memo!
Revenge must have been on the Villa manager’s mind going into this one.
Not only did the Eagles thrash his side 5-0 on the final day of last season, after Emery had led Villa to the Champions League.
They also knocked the Villans out of the Carabao Cup at Villa Park last month.
Emery had suffered four defeats on the spin for the first time in 1026 games as a manager – a fifth was simply unthinkable for the demanding Spaniard.
Yet his players shot themselves in the foot as they conceded after just four minutes.
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Palace ruthlessly exposed their high defensive line as Jean-Philippe Mateta‘s early through ball sent Ismaila Sarr racing through on goal.
The Senegal striker held off Ian Maatsen before firing past Emi Martinez to open his Premier League account for the Eagles.
Villa tried to respond but were wasteful.
New England cap Morgan Rogers scuffed a shot wide, Ollie Watkins nodded over then failed to get his head to a brilliant Maatsen cross.
Palace were under the cosh but had Dean Henderson to thank for a couple of moments of first-half brilliance.
Just before the half-hour, the ‘keeper produced a stunning stop to deny Watkins.
The Villa striker cut inside Trevoh Chalobah and fired in a low drive which looked to have beaten Henderson as it sped by him.
But somehow the England keeper stretched out his right arm to claw the ball from behind him, away from his gaping net.
Five minutes later Palace broke through Villa’s lines again.
Sarr sprinted clear and drew Martinez off his line before squaring to Mateta who somehow lifted his shot over an open goal from six yards.
To the striker’s relief, Sarr had just strayed offside in the build-up to spare his blushes.
Having survived that lucky escape Villa then drew level.
Pau Torres produced a brilliant pass to split the lines and pick out McGinn, who then topped it with an even better through ball to send Watkins clear.
The England striker calmly rounded Henderson and passed into an empty net to end his five-match barren streak.
Villa’s tails were up and Bailey left the crossbar shuddering with a rocket shot which bounced to safety with Henderson beaten.
The Jamaican was then involved in a bizarre incident when he tumbled in the Palace box before play raged up to the other end.
However, when the ball eventually went out VAR Alex Chilowicz drew ref Tim Robinson’s attention to a foul by Will Hughes who had trod on Bailey’s heel to send him crashing.
After a check on the pitchside monitor Robinson pointed to the spot.
But Henderson hurled himself to his left to brilliantly palm Youri Tielemans‘ spot kick to safety.
And Palace delivered another suck-punch to Villa’s ribs on the stroke of half-time.
Sarr again raced clear of Villa’s defence before being forced wide.
But the forward managed to bypass Mateta to pick out Justin Devenny at the back of the box.
And the young Northern Ireland international curled a peach of a shot around Tielemans to find the far corner of the net.
It was a stunning way for the young Scottish-born midfielder to break his Premier League duck in only his second start for Palace.
However, Villa, with Matty Cash on for Bogarde, came out like men possessed after the break.
Emery went for broke sending on Jhon Duran and Lucas Digne for McGinn and Maatsen.
But it was 30-year-old Barkley who salvaged a point for his side.
Tielemans swept over a corner from the left and Barkley rose between Marc Guehi and Jeff Schlupp to power a header into the far corner.
However, it took a brilliant stop from Emi Martinez, who pushed a Schlupp thunderbolt onto his far post, to prevent Palace snatching all three points.
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