Aston Villa’s 22-match unbeaten home run came to an end this evening with a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Villa Park.

Jean-Philippe Mateta opened the scoring in the 21st minute, converting from the penalty spot after Marco Bizot was adjudged to have tripped Daichi Kamada inside the box. Bizot, starting in place of Emi Martínez , was beaten low to his left by Mateta’s well-taken effort.

Martínez was absent from the matchday squad as his head wasn’t in the right place amid interest from Manchester United ahead of Monday’s 7pm transfer deadline.

Villa struggled to create clear-cut chances throughout the first half but should have gone into the break level. John McGinn lofted a perfectly weighted ball over the Palace defence to find Ollie Watkins, but the striker was denied from clo

See Full Page