Palace sweep Villa aside
Crystal Palace 4 - 1 Aston Villa
Ismaila Sarr’s brace inspired a ruthless Crystal Palace to sweep aside Aston Villa at Selhurst Park, keeping their push for a top-half Premier League finish on track.
A closer look at what happened at South London
Marking his 27th birthday in style, Sarr gave Palace a strong start in the first half. Villa briefly levelled through Morgan Rogers early in the second half, but that only spurred the hosts on to take complete control on a memorable night in SE25.
Jean-Philippe Mateta restored Palace’s lead moments later with a superb finish, moving him up to second in the club’s all-time Premier League goalscoring chart with 36 goals. Sarr then grabbed his second of the night before Eddie Nketiah, coming off the bench, sealed the victory with his first league goal for Palace in stoppage time.
The Palace fans sung: “Oli Glasner’s red and blue army” as the players left the pitch. They were celebrating a fully deserved first home league win of 2025; a second in three games against Villa this season.
The result lifted Palace to 12th in the table as they continue to build momentum heading into the final stretch of the season.
Best Palace reaction
A fantastic performance from Palace against Villa. youtu.be/tZLCoE0yLkc?...
— Super News Affiliate (@sup3rnew5affiliate.bsky.social) 27 February 2025 at 17:20
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Oliver, a Season Ticket Holder at Selhurst Park, posted the following on his Facebook page: "Henderson, in goal, is quietly going about his business. His ability allows Crystal Palace to play out from the back and stretch their opponents. By passing the ball around at the back, he and the defense draw in opposing players, creating space in the middle of the pitch."
He added: "This, in turn, enables them to press quickly, partly because Henderson is so comfortable on the ball. He has become a reliable presence, both in terms of his footwork and his goalkeeping. It’s not just his short game that impresses; his long kicking is also quite effective, often setting up direct plays to Jean-Philippe Mateta. Henderson is doing more than enough to give Thomas Tuchel a selection dilemma.
Where next for Aston Villa? Their fans also respond
Frank was in the away watching his Villa, he told us: "Despite how well Villa performed against Liverpool and Chelsea, their match against Palace was a complete disappointment. Adam Wharton was probably the standout player on the pitch for Palace. Villa struggled with their passing, were painfully slow in transitions, and rarely tested the goalkeeper. I really can't understand the decision to place Leon Bailey as a right wing-back."
Paul was also there, he spoke critically about their defence, saying: "We played three central defenders and still looked weak. We can't keep relying on our attacking players to get us out of trouble in games. I was surprised at the starting eleven, I thought Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford would have started."
