After a disciplined victory at home to Brighton last week, as the curtain was raised on the Steven Gerrard era, Villa looked to make it two wins in two for the new gaffer away at Selhurst Park.
This was to be no walk in the park for the Villans, though, as Patrick Vieira has transformed an organised and ageing Crystal Palace squad into one of the most vibrant and dynamic teams in the country.
Whilst Villa had arrested a five-game losing streak last time out, the Eagles were in fine form, and looked to extend their unbeaten run in the league to eight matches.
Here’s how the two sides looked for Saturday’s clash in Croydon:
With Villa’s injury woes gradually easing, Gerrard was able to welcome Douglas Luiz back into the matchday squad, whilst Leon Bailey and the evergreen Ashley Young replaced Emi Buendía and Danny Ings in the starting line-up.
For their hosts, James McArthur once again missed out, whilst the reliable Joachim Andersen was replaced by James Tomkins in the centre of defence after suffering a thigh injury last week. Ebere Eze made the Palace bench, his first involvement for six months.
The home side came out of the traps sharply, with the mischievous Wilfried Zaha pulling a shot wide from a promising position.
Villa were clearly a side with a new found swagger, though, and swiftly seized the initiative in the match. Jacob Ramsey, John McGinn and Leon Bailey all threatened the Palace rearguard early on, but it was an unlikely character who opened the scoring on the 15 minute mark.
An Austin MacPhee special saw an unorthodox set-up from a corner with three Villans at the front post and three at the back. As Matt Targett and Marvelous Nakamba broke away from captain Tyrone Mings, who was the intended target of the cross, the Crystal Palace defence fell apart.
If Ashley Young’s trademark whipped delivery was intended for Mings, who took a heavy blow to the head, then Villa players would have been almost as surprised as their red and blue counterparts to see Matt Targett find space to sweep home a rare but well-taken goal.
Deservedly ahead, and with their tails well and truly up, Villa searched for a crucial second before the interval. Number seven, John McGinn, came closest as he used his iconic peachy assets to manoeuvre himself into a position to unleash a strike, and he curled it narrowly past the far post.
When these sides meet, Zaha usually finds a way to make his presence known, and on Saturday he escaped a sending off after raising a hand to Polish international Matty Cash’s face following an innocuous looking challenge.
Gerrard’s men also felt aggrieved as Ollie Watkins was seemingly felled by Luka Milivojević, in the penalty area, whilst the Serbian enforcer was also lucky to get away with a rough tackle from behind on Leon Bailey.
Despite a relentless first 45 from the away side, Palace found themselves just one goal behind at the interval. For Villa, there was a sense that their opponents could not be quite as toothless in the second half as they had been in the first, and a gritty performance would be needed to see the game out.
As expected, the side from the capital did come out with a fresh impetus, although Villa looked well-drilled and in control for large swathes of the second half.
The South London outfit created reasonable opportunities for Christian Benteke and substitutes Odsonne Édouard and Jordan Ayew, and were also disappointed with referee Michael Salisbury, who did not play an advantage as an attacking opportunity presented itself.
With the exclusion of a moment of madness, which almost saw Cash slam the ball off Ezri Konsa into his own net, and the aforementioned half-chances, the team in white and claret did not look under any sustained period of pressure nor did they look like letting their opponents back into the game.
The man with the whistle Salisbury, on his Premier League debut, had made decisions which infuriated both sides, but his worst of the day was yet to come. Douglas Luiz, who had replaced the impressive Ramsey, was given his marching orders less than ten minutes after entering the fray.
On first glance the tackle looked overzealous and unnecessary but certainly not dangerous. Upon second viewing, it was clear that Luiz had missed Cheikhou Kouyaté’s ankle completely and the decision would be overturned.
Salisbury may well become one of the division’s finest referees in the years to come, but on Saturday his inexperience showed.
As Villa began to knock the ball around with a real sense of freedom in the closing stages, Anwar El Ghazi was released down the left after linking up intricately with Buendía. The Dutchman fed John McGinn and the midfielder, who had gone so close earlier, made no mistake this time with a wonderful bending strike into the top left of the goal.
This would have been the perfect away performance, if not for a late Marc Guéhi poked finish. The consolation goal would not take the gloss off a brilliant performance from Gerrard’s side, who look extremely compact and tough to break down, but with a sting in the tail at the other end.
Villa will hope that what we are seeing is more than just a new manager boost and is the start of something really exciting under the legendary Liverpudlian. Players like Marvelous Nakamba, Anwar El Ghazi and Ashley Young have regained form in incredible fashion, Jacob Ramsey looks like he is thriving under Gerrard and Gary McAllister’s stewardship and key components of the spine of the team, namely Tyrone Mings and John McGinn look back to their best.
The side are buying into Gerrard’s intense style of pressing, but doing so in intelligent areas, and are reaping the benefits of it in a big way.
When a new manager arrives, players who are short on confidence often find a new lease of life, and a special mention should be given to Villa’s holding midfielder Nakamba. The Zimbabwean seems to be improving his decision making, has developed the invaluable knack of being in the right place to stop opposition attacks and is working his socks off for the team. He was rightfully voted Man of the Match on the Villa social media fan vote.
As the gaffer was at great pains to stress, this is only a start and tougher tests are yet to come, particularly with the imperious North West pair of Manchester City and Liverpool on the horizon, but fans have been delighted with what they have seen so far from Gerrard’s Villa. The Champions League winner has become only the second manager to win his first two league matches with Villa in the Premier League era, alongside John Gregory.
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