Aston Villa 0 Crystal Palace 3: Marc Guehi nets STUNNER on what could be last game for Eagles as Liverpool eye transfer
MARC Guehi struck a blow for the good guys as he left Eagles’ boss Oliver Glasner with something to remember him by.
The Palace captain may be moving to pastures new inside the next 24 hours if his proposed move to Liverpool gets the green light.
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But his farewell present was a curling shot that underlined the star quality the Reds are paying for as Unai Emery’s chaotic summer imploded at Villa Park.
Guehi struck Palace’s second goal, building on Jean-Philippe Mateta’s first-half penalty on a night to forget for Villa’s boss.
And Ismaila Sarr rubbed salt into very open wounds by adding a third 12 minutes from time, nodding home after the hosts’ defence had followed the example of keeper Emi Martinez – and gone AWOL.
The Argentinian was left out because his mind was “elsewhere”.
The two-time winner of the world’s best keeper award was nowhere to be seen – apparently his mind was unable to cope with the prospect of a potential move away from Villa Park with Manchester United mulling over an offer.
He was declared unfit to play. And that went too for Emery’s side who spent a large chunk of this going around in circles.
Not so Guehi who may have a money-spinning switch to the champs in the offing.
His name was sung loud and proud by the visiting supporters who were appreciative of his professionalism.
And he had the benefit of celebrating in front of them as Villa’s proud unbeaten record was shattered.
Before tonight, Emery’s side were unbeaten on their own patch in the Premier League over the past 12 months.
But Palace are Villa’s bogey side – and they had a field day.
Glasner’s men have held the upper hand against Villa recently, winning four and drawing one of their last five encounters, including in the FA Cup semi-final four months ago.
As if to hammer home the point, the visiting contingent reminded the hosts of that 3-0 defeat, taunting them with “Did you cry at Wembley?” within seconds of the game getting underway.
By that stage, Villa’s stadium announcer had put a red line through his usual pre-match script which involved introducing the “world’s best” keeper Martinez to the home crowd.
Emery also mumbled his way through a pre-match television interview in which, when quizzed about the Argentinian’s absence, merely repeated the name of the Argentinian’s replacement, saying: “Marco Bizot, Marco Bizot.”
It was a bizarre reply to a fair question. Villa’s boss confirmed last Friday that he “didn’t expect” any of his main stars to leave the club.
It was almost as if any late interest had completely thrown the Spaniard – knocked him out of his stride. Palace then did the same to his team out on the green stuff.
Despite the excitement of a trip to Norway to face Fredrikstad in the Conference League on Thursday evening, Palace came with a game plan that stifled Villa at every turn.
The Eagles looked polished and took a 21st-minute lead when Mateta pulled away from Villa’s two centre-backs to receive a ball from Tyrick Mitchell on the left flank.
The Frenchman spotted Daichi Kamada making a run and threaded a pass into him.
The Japan international pushed the ball past Bizot whose outstretched leg clipped him. Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot.
The Dutch keeper couldn’t stop himself moving as Mateta dithered during his run-up and the Frenchman rolled the ball into the net.
Emery chose to blood Evann Guessand, a £26million signing from Nice, from the start. He showed some nice touches but it was the evergreen Ollie Watkins who posed the greatest threat.
The England international made something out of nothing when John McGinn simply booted the ball down the middle of the pitch, Dean Henderson standing up well to the striker’s shot.
Emery chose to shake it up at the interval. By that stage, Villa were yet to find the net and it was to another Argentinian – a forgotten one – that he turned.
Emi Buendia sparked a response – but it was all huff, puff and no end product.
Guehi then showed them how to do it as Villa failed to clear a Mitchell cross.
Palace moved forward on the left and Guehi took aim with a stunning effort that left Bizot grasping at thin air.
Sarr then sealed the points with a close-range header following a long throw allowing the visiting skipper to leave on a high.
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