A first Crystal Palace goal on just his second senior start from Justin Devenny saw Oliver Glasner's Eagles earn a valuable point away against Aston Villa.
A rampant Palace start
Palace started in rampant fashion. A fantastic line breaking pass from Marc Guehi found Jean-Philippe Mateta, and the Frenchman in turn played a deft through ball to allow Ismaila Sarr to race in behind the Villa defence who duly dispatched past Emiliano Martinez.
Unai Emery's side would fight back through Ollie Watkins, who was left unmarked and allowed to bear down on the Palace goal before rounding Dean Henderson and slotting into the empty net in the 36th minute.
The match would descend into chaotic scenes on the stroke of half-time. VAR adjudged Will Hughes to have fouled Leon Bailey in the penalty area, gifting Villa a chance to go into the interval in front however, Youri Tielemans failed to capitalise with the Belgian midfielder denied by Henderson.
The resulting corner saw Palace break in transition after Cheick Doucoure's excellent pass allowed Sarr to run into space, before the Senegalese attacker's cut back was diverted home by Devenny with a composed right-footed finish.
Villa snatch a late leveller
Villa would fight back to equalise through a Ross Barkley header in the 77th minute, but Palace were good value for a well earned point, particularly given their recent injury struggles.
-
Crystal Palace Player Ratings:
Dean Henderson - 8
The England international was in fine form, making three saves to thwart the Villans. Most notably was a superb penalty save diving to his left to deny Tielemans, igniting the thread of events that would see Palace ultimately take a 2-1 advantage.
Henderson looked assured when dealing with a flurry of crosses into the box, displaying far more confidence in commanding his area.
Daniel Munoz - 6
The Colombian worked tirelessly throughout up and down the right flank. Was tenacious defensively but wasteful going forward, including squandering a great opportunity towards the end of the match after Martinez denied Schlupp.
Trevoh Chalobah - 6
Defensively Chalobah was solid for the most part throughout. The Chelsea loanee made six defensive contributions (tackles, clearances and interceptions) and blocked three shots, but did make an error leading to a Villa shot, and was often too relaxed on the ball, allowing the Villans to target the defender in the press.
Maxence Lacroix - 7
Lacroix was monumental at the heart of the backline apart from one lapse in judgement that enabled Watkins to equalise. The Frenchman stepped out from the back to press the ball, but in doing so left Watkins unmarked who raced through before rounding Henderson to level the tie.
Lacroix redeemed himself with two last man challenges almost certainly stopped Villa from scoring. The summer signing won seven out of his eight duels, and made 16 defensive contributions (tackles, clearances and interceptions).
Marc Guehi - 6
Guehi was assured in possession, including a superb progressive pass to Mateta which enabled the Frenchman to assist Sarr.
Defensively the England international was solid, however was caught out in the build up to the penalty which fortunately Palace got away with. Was also not as dominant in his duels as Guehi usually is.
Tyrick Mitchell - 6
Mitchell was wasteful in possession, only completing 59% of his passes. This meant that the wing-back often squandered dangerous positions where he received the ball, though Mitchell did create one big chance.
Defensively Mitchell coped with the test posed by Bailey relatively comfortably.
Cheick Doucoure - 7
The Malian international showcased glimpses of his tremendous ability, as Doucoure continued his return to full fitness.
Doucoure was ferocious in the middle of the park, but also demonstrated his craftiness in possession, playing a perfectly weighted pass to Sarr to orchestrate the second goal, with his composure evident to release the ball at just the right moment.
Will Hughes - 6
Hughes was tenacious throughout, getting stuck in as Palace have come to expect.
However, there were tendencies of overzealousness, none more so than for the penalty where Hughes was a little overeager to recover possession and clumsily stood on the back of Bailey's heel to foul the Jamaican attacker.
Ismaila Sarr - 8
The best performance from Sarr in a Crystal Palace shirt without a doubt. The Senegalese attacker was a constant threat in transition, using his blistering pace to terrorise the Villa defence.
Showed composure to put Palace in front, and to find the correct pass to assist Devenny.
Was fortunate he was flagged offside when squandering a pass to Mateta when through on goal, and perhaps could have done better with a strike that went straight at Martinez at 2-2.
Glasner will have been pleased by the directness of Sarr, and Villa were perhaps lucky to remain with eleven players on the field after Ian Maatsen wiped out Sarr as he surged towards the Villans goal.
Justin Devenny - 8
A dream fortnight for Devenny was capped off with his first senior goal for Palace to put the Eagles in front. The midfielder only made his first senior start for Glasner's side in the defeat to Fulham, and also made his international debut for Northern Ireland during the recent international break.
The goal was taken with steely composure, calmly curling the ball into the bottom right corner with his weaker foot, and Devenny continued to look a viable option in the Premier League, demonstrating a wide passing range, and defensive due diligence.
Bravely led the line, holding the ball up with super strength, and tirelessly worked the channels to carry Palace up the pitch. Also showcased his own creativity to assist Sarr's goal, and was very impressive throughout.
Substitutes:
Jefferson Lerma - 6
Lerma helped to shield the Palace defence with his energy and athleticism, however perhaps could have contributed more going forward.
Jeffrey Schlupp - 6
Was unable to impact the game hugely, but did see a fierce strike denied onto the post by a world class save from Martinez, when it looked like Schlupp was set to win the game for Palace.
Nathaniel Clyne - N/A
Chris Richards - N/A
