Aston Villa and Crystal Palace remained on track for a top ten finish as they produced one of the close football results of the weekend in the Premier League. Ollie Watkins opened the scoring in the 69th minute before Jeffrey Schlupp equalized in the 81st minute. Danny Ings missed a number of good chances in the first half to put the hosts ahead.
Player ratings
Aston Villa: Martinez (6), Cash (7), Konsa (6), Mings (7), Digne (6), Luiz (6), Nakamba (7), McGinn (7), Coutinho (6), Watkins (7), Ings (6)
Subs: Chambers (6), Ramsey (6), Buendia (n/a)
Crystal Palace: Butland (6), Clyne (6), Andersen 6), Kouyate (6), Guehi (6), Mitchell (6), Gallagher (5), Milivojevic (5), Eze (5), Mateta (5), Zaha (6)
Subs: Edouard (5), Benteke (5), Schlupp (7)
Man of the match: Ollie Watkins
Managers Reaction
Aston Villa’s Steven Gerrard: “It was a really close game; I thought Patrick’s team caused us some issues in the first half and we had to tweak one or two things at half-time. Going over the chances, I felt like we created enough to win the game and score more than one goal. I think, on another day, if we were more ruthless and more clinical, we would have been sitting here talking about three points rather than one. [It was] really naive in terms of the goal we’ve conceded, but our overall performance, I don’t think there was too much wrong with it.”
Crystal Palace’s Patrick Vieira: “I’m really happy with the performance. I think, from the first minute, we played well and we managed to control the game. We showed quality and we showed character to get back into the game and manage to make a point. I was really pleased [with the reaction to going behind] because it wasn’t easy to concede that goal. We didn’t deserve to concede that goal and we showed quality and character to fight and find the strength to get back into the game and to score that goal.”
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