Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace. Premier League.
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Report and highlights as Aston Villa come from a goal down to beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Villa Park; in the absence of unwell Roy Hodgson, Odsonne Edouard handed Palace the lead; Jhon Duran brought Villa level in 87th minute; added time goals from Douglas Luiz and Leon Bailey secured win
Saturday 16 September 2023 18:51, UK
Aston Villa secured a dramatic comeback victory as Douglas Luiz's controversial penalty and Leon Bailey's strike deep in stoppage time for a 3-1 win against Crystal Palace.
Having levelled with three minutes of normal time remaining, Villa were awarded a penalty in the fourth minute of added time.
The decision survived a rigorous VAR check with referee Darren England, who was sent to the pitchside monitor, and his officials taking almost five minutes to stick with the decision. Luiz then converted from the spot in the eighth minute of stoppage time to put Villa ahead.
Palace assistant manager Paddy McCarthy, standing in for the unwell Roy Hodgson, wasn't happy with the decision and said the result left a "bitter taste".
He said: "The result just leaves a really bitter taste in our mouths. If it takes five minutes to make a decision, that tells you everything you need to know. People in the studio have asked him to go and have a look. Whatever he has seen on the monitor has not changed his mind."
It killed it for us. It's never been a pen for me. Under the pressure, it's gone the wrong way.
In the absence of manager Hodgson, Palace thought they were heading for victory thanks to Odsonne Edouard's strike early in the second half. However, substitute Jhon Duran hammered home an emphatic equaliser to bring the hosts level late in the game.
Nine minutes of stoppage time were added on and in a dramatic end to the game, Unai Emery's team were handed the chance to seal all three points after referee England pointed to the spot when Ollie Watkins went down under a challenge from Chris Richards.
England controversially stuck with his original decision, and Luiz made no mistake to spark the Villa celebrations before Bailey struck to send Villa above Palace into seventh.
The patter of the game was set out early with Aston Villa dominating the ball and Palace happy for them to have it as they sat back in a compact shape, trying to hit the hosts on the counter-attack.
The two sides cancelled each other out in the early stages, and it took some sloppy passing at the back from Palace for the first chance to come. Ollie Watkins pounced on the error but, one-on-one with Johnstone, the Villa striker's shot was well saved by the England goalkeeper.
Villa thought they'd broken the deadlock in the 34th minute when Pau Torres' ball over the top released Diaby. The forward beat Johnstone with his shot but he did not beat Palace's offside trap as VAR ruled out the goal.
The hosts were in the ascendancy. Matty Cash missed his kick after being picked out by Nicolo Zaniolo's cutback before the full-back, who has been in good goal-scoring form this season, headed over Lucas Digne's cross.
Palace rarely threatened in the first half but went ahead inside two minutes of the restart for the second half.
Sub Jean-Philippe Mateta spun Torres on the right before sending in an inviting cross for Edouard to slide past Emiliano Martinez, who had slipped in the build-up to the goal, for his fourth of the season.
Palace were threatening to build on their lead and should have gone 2-0 up on the hour-mark, but Ward could only divert Joachim Andersen's header wide of the post from close range before Martinez denied Eze with the England international through on goal.
It turned out that Palace needed a second. Duran fired straight at Johnstone with his first touch after coming on, while Watkins and Bailey both had shots blocked in quick succession before Watkins curled an effort off the post.
However, the breakthrough eventually came three minutes from time as Duran superbly controlled Lucas Digne's cross on his chest and then lashed in a fierce left-footed shot past Johnstone.
Five minutes later, the hosts were awarded a penalty when Richards brought down Watkins, with referee England taking almost five minutes in front of the monitor to decide a foul had been committed.
Luiz stroked home from 12 yards and then Bailey sealed the win at the end after converting from close range.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery:
"[It] was a difficult match like every one is. We played very well, created chances and didn't concede a lot in our box. But we didn't score [in the first half].
"We played a lot [of other matches] like today [Saturday] and were winning in the first 20 or so minutes. We said at half-time to keep going and controlling the game like we were doing. They have a very good team and good players and they did that transition and scored the goal. Then it was a difficult moment.
"We were playing more with our hearts than with our minds in the last 20 minutes and sometimes you need that. At the end, we deserved to win. We scored three goals so I'm very happy because after their goal, it was a difficult moment and we really reacted very well.
"We want to play every minute here and to enjoy it. We want to be competitive, to learn and build our team with the players. I am very happy because this three points today is because every player involved - those in the starting XI or on the bench - helped us with good impact."
Crystal Palace assistant manager Paddy McCarthy:
"I'm disappointed for the players. The gameplan worked for a large spell of the game, but I'm disappointed that we didn't get anything from the game.
"The team shape and the effort were great. We knew it was going to be a tough side, but the boys who stepped in were great.
"The result just leaves a really bitter taste in our mouths."
On Villa's penalty: "If it takes five minutes to make a decision, that tells you everything you need to know."
Aston Villa's next game is a trip to Legia Warsaw on Thursday as they begin their Europa Conference League campaign - kick-off 5.45pm.
Unai Emery's side then return to Premier League action when they travel to Chelsea on September 24 - kick-off 2pm.
Crystal Palace's next outing is at home to Fulham on Saturday - kick-off 3pm. The Eagles then take on Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup on September 26, live on Sky Sports - kick-off 8pm.
