The EFL Cup is generally an afterthought for the bigger teams, a chance to give fresh legs a chance to shine and fringe players to prove their worth, but Unai Emery will still be left unhappy as his Aston Villa side were knocked out of the cup.
Crystal Palace’s players stepped up in this fixture, with goals from Daichi Kamada and Eberechi Eze cementing Palace’s place in the Quarter-Finals for the first time since the 2011/12 season.
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Story of the Match
Both sides made changes going into the match, with the EFL Cup providing a chance to rotate squads.
Villa rotated rather heavily, with only John McGinn remaining in the starting line-up from the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth.
The Scottish captain would start deeper than usual in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with the bench full of youngsters who were hoping to get a chance later on in the game.
This game would also mark another start for the highly rated Jaden Philogene off the wing, joining Jhon Duran, Emiliano Buendia and Leon Bailey in attack.
McGinn would partner Boubacar Kamara in the midfield pivot, with Ian Maatsen, Tyrone Mings, Diego Carlos and Kosta Nedeljković protecting Joe Gauci in goal.
As for Crystal Palace, their side would remain similar to the one that claimed victory on the weekend. Matt Turner would start in goal, with a back three of Maxence Lacroix, Trevoh Chalobah and Marc Guehi in front of him.
Will Hughes would come into the midfield to partner Adam Wharton, with Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Muñoz as the wing-backs.
Eberechi Eze and Jean-Phillipe Mateta retained their spots in attack, with the only attacking change being Eddie Nketiah for Ismaila Sarr.
This was a game that Aston Villa were expected to dominate, so alarm bells must have been ringing when Palace’s playmaker Eberechi Eze struck first after only eight minutes.
The attacker was left unmarked in the box and gifted a free header from a Daniel Muñoz cross to gift the away side the lead. The Villa defence fell too deep, leaving Eze to nod the ball into the corner and give the South London side a surprise lead.
Villa had struggled to impose themselves onto the game, with Palace debutant Turner only forced into some routine saves prior to the goal.
Unfortunately for Palace, the goal would be one of the only involvements Eze would have on the game, as the England international was forced off with a hamstring injury to be replaced by Daichi Kamada.
The substitution appeared to take the wind out of Palace's sails, with Kamada struggling to adapt to the pace of the game, and it would be the Japanese international losing possession which would allow Villa a chance back into the encounter.
Nketiah's through ball was behind Kamada, before the midfielders loose touch allowed Villa to regain possession. After working the ball to the edge of the box, Duran would strike through a crowd of players to the left of Turner, with the American goalkeeper failing to keep the ball out of the net despite getting a hand to the ball to level the tie in the 23rd minute.
The goal marked Duran's seventh goal of the season.
Palace then suffered another major injury, with Wharton forced off for Jeffrey Schlupp as Villa appeared to enter ascendancy.
However the home side were unable to capitalise as Palace held firm, with Buendia squandering the only real chance of note, when firing wide from a tight angle after Palace failed to deal with a driven cross.
Mateta offered the most threat for the Eagles, heading a Munoz cross over the bar.
Neither side was able to really trouble the other, and the first half proceedings were brought to a close and the scores level.
The second half saw Unai Emery’s side continue to dominate possession, with Villa totalling 62% possession across the match but it was a loose pass from Palace that nearly allowed Villa to take the lead.
Kamada's pass back to Guehi was misplaced, and allowed Duran to race in behind, but the strikers shot was spectacularly saved by Turner diving to his left.
Palace started to press up higher up the pitch, forcing turnovers and mistakes and after Villa failed to play the ball out of the back, Kamada latched onto the loose ball, and after drifting inside, the Japanese international would fire it in from outside of the box into the bottom left corner to give the lead back to the away side in the 64th minute.
Villa would threaten to fight back with Duran failing to make meaningful contact with the goal at his mercy. Philogene would also see a driven shot saved comfortably by Turner.
The game would draw to a lacklustre close, with neither side threatening and Palace would run out 2-1 winners as the Eagles defence remained rock solid helping contribute to the biggest shock of the round was claimed.
Statistics wise it would be Aston Villa who looked better off, but it would be clinical finishing that let them down. In fact, Crystal Palace scored both their goals from their only shots on target, with their attackers turning up when it mattered most.
Aston Villa may have dominated the stats sheets, but their defensive frailties were what cost them a spot in the next round.
This result put Crystal Palace in the hat for the Quarter-Final draw and gives them a single-legged tie against Arsenal, who secured their spot via a 3-0 win over Preston North End.
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Player of the Match - Daniel Muñoz
In a tight match where many standout players fought hard, the one who stood above them all was Daniel Muñoz.
Yet again putting in another full match for Crystal Palace, the wing-back grabbed an assist and generally enjoyed the freedom of the right-hand side. He made his mark on the match in a similar way to how his tackle contributed to their goal against Spurs, and has generally been one of the most reliable starters since joining the club.
His constant energy helped push Palace through in the end and his contributions secured an unlikely result this time out.
