Crystal Palace earned a valuable point away at Villa Park. Goals from Ismaila Sarr and Justin Devenny saw Oliver Glasner's side draw 2-2 with Aston Villa.
The Eagles took the lead in just the 4th minute after Jean-Philippe Mateta's through ball enabled Sarr to race in behind the Villa defence before firing past Emiliano Martinez to open the scoring.
Ollie Watkins would level the tie after taking advantage of a lapse in judgement in the Palace defence.
Unai Emery's side would earn a chance to take the lead, when Will Hughes was ruled to have fouled Leon Bailey by VAR. Dean Henderson would thwart Youri Tielemans, and merely 57 seconds later Palace would take the lead.
From the resulting corner, Palace countered and after Cheick Doucoure released Sarr to run into space, the Senegalese attacker's pass found the onrushing Devenny who curled a right-footed finish into the bottom right corner.
Ross Barkley would equalise for the Villans in the 77th to earn a share of the spoils, after diverting a Villa into the corner into the corner with a deft header.
Glasner will be pleased with the point earned by his side, but what did the Austrian manager learn as his Palace side look to escape the relegation zone?
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Midfield Strength
Saturday marked the return of Cheick Doucoure to the starting line-up since the Malian sustained an injury in the 2-2 draw against Leicester in September.
Jefferson Lerma also marked his recovery from injury to feature in the second half, whilst Hughes returned from suspension. The trio mark an quality array of options, and with Adam Wharton nearing a return after his groin surgery and Daichi Kamada set to return from his one match ban, Glasner boasts superb quality in the middle of the park.
Doucoure provides great tenacity, and a superb composure on the ball, demonstrating his progressive passing with a through ball on Saturday to release Sarr to create Palace's second goal.
Hughes added much needed bite, even if his overzealousness did concede a penalty, usually the English midfielder shows fantastic discipline.
His English counterpart Wharton has a great blend of energy and ball progression, and his range of passing would complement Doucoure fantastically and enable Palace to improve their connection link between defence and attack.
Kamada's return will also provide further international pedigree, and Justin Devenny has also shown he is a capable option in his two senior appearances so far.
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Ismaila Sarr has arrived
After joining from Olympique Marseillein the summer for a fee in the region of £12.5 million, much has been expected of Sarr to replace the void left by the departure of Michael Olise, but the Senegalese forward was yet to make his mark.
That is until Saturday afternoon, when a blistering display saw Sarr run rampant over Villa, terrorising the opposition defence with his speed and directness.
The display was easily Sarr best in a Palace shirt, and yet it still felt like there was more to come, which bodes promisingly for Glasner as the Palace attack starts to gel.
Sarr opened the scoring when latching onto a through ball from Mateta, exploiting the Villa high line and comfortably outpacing the recovering Ian Maatsen, before showing great composure to finish past Martinez.
The 26-year-old would turn creator for the second. After clearing a corner, Sarr would run from one penalty area to another in a flash, surging onto Doucoure's pass and squaring the ball for Devenny to fire home.
Sarr looked to punish the high Villa line at every opportunity, and caused a constant threat throughout. Whilst not every team will play with such an open defensive structure, Sarr is at his best when isolating defenders and blitzing past them with his incredible speed, and Glasner will hope to see the confidence of his talisman thrive after a dominant display.
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Lack of Depth
The difference in depth in the two sides was clearly evident from the substitutions made from the bench. Emery was able to call upon attacking options Jhon Duran, Emiliano Buendia and Jaden Philogene, who all cost significant outlay.
Meanwhile Palace's attacking options were limited to just Jeffrey Schlupp and teenage Asher Agbinone with Eberechi Eze, Eddie Nketiah and Daichi Kamada all unavailable.
Whilst all are useful players, the quality and range of options is limited in comparison to Palace's Premier League competitors, and with Glasner only containing a short squad, any absentees are hard felt for the Eagles.
This was demonstrated against Fulham when Marc Guehi and Justin Devenny started in the midfield pivot, with the usual options unavailable.
Devenny was once again used as a utility player, deployed in the left 'ten' role against Villa, and whilst the Northern Ireland midfielder excelled, it is not his natural role and Glasner would probably prefer not to have to rely so heavily on a player who has now made only two senior starts for the Eagles.
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Uncoordinated Moments in Defence
Whilst Palace have looked solid in defence for the most part, it has become a frequent occurrence that a lapse in judgement has allowed soft goals to be conceded against the Eagles.
On Saturday it was Maxence Lacroix who stepped out of the backline to press the ball, but this allowed Ollie Watkins to be unmarked and surge towards the Palace goal with relative ease. The goal was eerily similar to the pair conceded against Wolves earlier this month, with defenders making slight lapses in judgement, which leave the Palace defence disjointed and allows spaces for the opposition to exploit.
The back-three are relatively new to playing with each other, and as Trevoh Chalobah and Lacroix joined at the end of the transfer window, the partnership with Marc Guehi has been figured out on the fly, but Palace will need the trio to remain solid for the duration of matches if they are to climb higher up the table.
Moments on Saturday showcased the tremendous individual quality all three possess, particularly Lacroix's goal saving last man challenge in this fixture, and Glasner will know that the three of them have the potential to be an elite defence.
