Aston Villa lifted a huge weight off their shoulders on Tuesday night, beating Crystal Palace 1-0 to end a winless run in the Premier League of over five months.
Joleon Lescott got the winner, with Wayne Hennessey making a mistake and dropping the ball in from a header, but the home crowd didn't mind how it went in, all they cared about was a much needed three points.
Garde's men enjoy strong first half
The side that Remi Garde picked to secure his first win as Villa boss was a surprising one, with captain Micah Richards dropped to the bench alongside Brad Guzan, and Libor Kozak handed a rare start as the lone striker, Jordan Ayew returning from suspension to play just off him.
It didn't always look like it was going to work either, as Palace hit the woodwork before manager Alan Pardew was even able to get comfortable in his seat. Wilfried Zaha sped down the right hand side inside the opening minutes, exchanging passes with Jason Puncheon before striking the ball onto the post, with Mark Bunn beaten.
Garde's men went straight up the other end though, with Kozak ambling well to win a corner, from which Ashley Westwood got on the end, shooting narrowly wide. That quick recovery from Zaha's early effort seemed to give them confidence, and they enjoyed more good spells in the rest of the first half.
Ayew was looking to make up for lost time, having missed the previous game against Sunderland, and he ran onto Kozak's flick to crash an effort into the side netting, with half the ground thinking it had gone in. He didn't give up despite that, twisting and turning in the area a few minutes later, only for Joe Ledley to block his goalbound shot out for a corner.
Lescott puts Villa ahead
Unfortunately for Palace, the midfielder was then forced off through injury at half-time, replaced by Connor Wickham. The change didn't help them, as Villa managed to get ahead before the hour mark.
Palace 'keeper Hennessey had started the second 45 well, saving brilliantly from the impressive Kozak, but will want to quickly forget what turned out to be the only goal of the game. Joleon Lescott rose highest from a corner, but struggled to get much power on his header, which was straight at Hennessey. However, he fumbled on his line, dropping the ball and having it roll through his legs.
Villans hang on for priceless win
Ahead against the team with the third best away record in the whole division, it was only natural for the Villans to drop back and look to defend their lead, meaning it was helpful that their defensive unit were playing much better than in recent months.
Yohan Cabaye blasted a free-kick into the wall, a sure let off, but other than that Palace's forwards had few scraps to feed off. It could have been 2-0, with Kozak thinking he'd scored a deserved goal, only to be flagged offside from close range.
Still, it didn't matter as some solid defending from Lescott and co, plus Scott Dann missing a sitter in the final moments, helped the Villans to their first win since August. Next up, Leicester City on Saturday evening.
