A first half Christian Benteke goal has ended Aston Villa's long wait for a win. The Villains hadn't recorded a win since their victory over Liverpool in September, a run of nine games despite a three match unbeaten run before this game.

Coming into the game Villa had three big defensive players out with Nathan Baker, Ron Vlaar and Phillipe Senderos all missing. Palace however were sweating on the fitness of Dwight Gayle, but he started up front. Damien Delaney and Adrian Mariappa were definitely missing for The Eagles, who were looking to extend their unbeaten run to three games.

The first piece of action came from Palace as Brad Guzan spilled a Yannick Bolasie shot, Gayle was first to the rebound but thankfully for Villa fans, Cieran Clark was on hand to defend, but also the flag was already up for Gayle being offside.

Joe Cole was forced off the pitch only eight minutes into the game after an injury, what a poor recent run of injuries the former England international has had, he was replaced by Carlos Sanchez.

Palace had started the game brighter, giving Villa lots of early pressure. Bolasie and Gayle were beinging the best out of Guzan, with on loan winger Wilfried Zaha impressing on his return to the team. But the London side were undone by the potent threat of Benteke as he started to test Julian Speroni in the Palace goal.

Half an hour in and Benteke had a shot on target but was saved by Speroni, but two minutes later he gave Villa the breakthrough. He robbed Scott Dann and curled his low finish past Speroni and into the net. The Belgian with his first goal of the season for a side who's been notoriously goal-shy this season so far.

Palace manager Neil Warnock must have told his side to press more at half time as the Eagles came out firing. James McArthur had a great chance to equalise but his volley missed the target. A moment of potential controversy came around the hour mark, as Frazier Campbell was brought down in the area by Clark. Campbell was chasing Bolasie's exquisite cross, and was supposedly brought down by the Villa defender, but referee Michael Oliver refused to point to the spot.

Campbell continued to threaten as his left footed shot just went wide after some brilliant Clark pressure. The defender was great tonight for the Villains, who had to defend vigorously in the last 15 minutes. Palace ended the game with 17 shots to Villa's five. Despite the fact Villa had more possession, Palace will feel hard done by that they couldn't get an equaliser, down to the marvellous performance of Villa 'keeper Guzan.

Palace will be left to rue not having that cutting edge in the final third as Villa will look to build on their win when they host Leicester this weekend. For Palace, the chance to get back to winning ways comes in the game at the weekend at Tottenham.

Crystal Palace (0) Aston Villa (1)
       
Speroni 6 Guzan 9
Kelly (2 90' 6 Hutton 6
Hangeland 6 Okore 6
Dann 5 Clark 8
Ward 7 Cissokho 5
Jedinak 7 Westwood 5
McArthur 6 Cleverley (2) 88' 5
Bolasie 8 Cole (1) 8' 4
Zaha 7 Weimann 5
Chamakh 6 Agbonlahor 6
Gayle (1) 45' 5 Benteke 8
Substitutions
 Campbell (1) 45' 5  Sanchez (1) 8' 6
 Puncheon (2) 88' 5  Richardson (2) 88' 5
       
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About the author
Aaron Irwin
Formula 1 editor, Football League co-editor at VAVEL UK. Writer since July 2014. Hull City correspondent. Currently studying for a Journalism degree at Hull School of Art and Design.