The Warmdown: Lacklustre Palace outclassed by Trezeguet

Crystal Palace fell to their fifth consecutive defeat in a row after an dogged display from Aston Villa pushed aside Roy Hodgson's men.

The Warmdown: Lacklustre Palace outclassed by Trezeguet
(GettyImages - Tim Keeton)
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By Kirshon Wilkins

Aston Villa showed that they still have the fight to stay in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon as they comfortably beat Crystal Palace 2-0.

The Eagles have had a hard time since beating Bournemouth just after Project Restart and their problems continued when Trezeguet grabbed the opener just before the interval.

There were arguments that Palace should've had the opener after the first few minutes when Mamadou Sakho's goal was ruled out for handball after consultation with VAR.

However, Palace began slowly after half-time and Trezeguet pounced on an error from Sakho to prod home and double Villa's advantage. The Egyptian's goals were enough to see off the Eagles and condemn them to their fifth straight defeat.

  • Did VAR dampen the Eagles' spirits?

Palace came firing out of the blocks and they were ahead after the first few mins through Sakho. Celebrations were cut short when the goal was disallowed for handball even though it appeared to hit the defenders shoulder.

After that controversial decision, the Eagles were sluggish in possession and couldn't create many clear cut chances. The goal just before half-time was a sucker-punch for Roy Hodgson's men and they didn't look like getting back in the game after that.

Poor discipline followed and the Eagles were conceding fouls all over the pitch and the game was over after Villa's second goal.

  • Defensive errors yet again for Palace

Both goals were very avoidable and it must have been disappointing to lose the way they did on Sunday afternoon. 

When Conor Hourihane stood over the free-kick, Trezeguet was left all by himself at the back post and it seemed like no one saw where he was. 

Hourihane's free-kick was headed away but the ball found an unmarked Trezeguet who fired an unstoppable effort past Vicente Guaita.

For the second goal, it looked like Palace had dealt with the situation well but the ball came back into the box and Sakho completely missed the ball with his attempted clearance and the defence were far too slow to react.

Trezeguet had all the time in the world to prod home past Guaita and put the game beyond doubt for the Eagles.

  • Palace's goalscoring problem needs to be sorted out fast

The game against Chelsea showed what Palace are capable of if they try and go for it instead of sitting off and trying to avoid defeat.

The Eagles are the second-lowest scorers in the league with 30 goals which is a dismal return for a side that has so much talent in Jordan Ayew, Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend, Max Meyer and Christian Benteke.

Palace's approach in games needs to change. The cautious approach doesn't work if you keep conceding as many goals as they have since the restart.

Ex-England manager Hodgson is likely to be treading thin water after this result and their next three games spell grim readings. The Eagles have Manchester United, Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur before the end of the season and you can't see where they are getting their points from at the moment.

Benteke had a few good chances against Villa but he fluffed his lines continuously and Zaha didn't create enough although his teammates didn't help him out. The Eagles need to find a way to avoid relying on Ayew and Zaha fast or they could risk losing eight consecutive games at the end of this campaign.

  • Flat ending to the season for the Eagles

Palace will be more than upset with VAR overturning Sakho's early goal that could've had them up and running in this game but they were well beaten in the end.

Things were made worse at the final whistle when Benteke was sent off after an altercation with Ezri Konsa

This incident just added to a miserable afternoon for Hodgson's side who have lost their last five on the bounce. Palace have secured their eighth consecutive season in the top-flight but it seems as if their players are already on their holidays.

The Eagles have tough games coming up against teams in the top half of the table who all have something to play for. They will need to perform away better than they did at Villa Park if they are to stand a chance against any of those sides.