If this was the last game before their star players leave for bigger clubs, few Crystal Palace fans will forget Marc Guéhi’s farewell gift as his brilliant goal rubber stamped the deserved victory that ended the Premier League’s longest current unbeaten home run.
Aston Villa lost their first home league game in 20, after 372 days, but can now claim a different record. They are the last team in England’s top four divisions yet to score a league goal this season.
A highly underwhelming summer’s transfer window was compounded by yet another disappointing result against Palace. We will never know whether Emiliano Martínez would have saved Guéhi’s peach of a shot as Villa’s regular goalkeeper was unavailable for selection amid reports of Manchester United’s renewed interest.
Unai Emery confirmed the World Cup winner was too distracted to play. “We need the players focused 100%,” the Villa manager said. “He wasn’t.” Emery did confirm there had been no bid from United. “He was not available. Tomorrow is the line and we will see how we finish it.”
Emery also conceded that Martínez’s situation has contributed to Villa’s poor start. “It’s not helping us. This is one of the circumstances we are having now not helping, but tomorrow, we’ll see. I am confident after tomorrow for we are going to try to manage the group we will have.”
The Palace fans serenaded their potentially departing hero by singing “Marc Guéhi, I wanna know how you scored that goal” after their captain followed a run out from defence by curling home a beautiful shot into the top corner for 2-0 midway through the second half. If the England defender is leaving for Liverpool on Monday, then what a way to sign off.
Oliver Glasner conceded that it is up to Steve Parish, the Palace chairman, whether the club give in to “temptation” and accept Liverpool’s bid for the England player who has entered the last year of his contract. “We need to keep Marc if we want to have a successful season,” the Palace manager said. “We had a meeting in March and we have an agreement that we sell Marc if we have the right replacement in. There’s no replacement in the building so it’s clear one part of the agreement is not fulfilled.
“I know if we don’t sell Marc, he would accept it because he loves Crystal Palace. It’s all about Crystal Palace’s future, about this season. We have such great times, maybe the most successful in the club’s history. And Marc is not just a small part of the puzzle.
“But I don’t have the final decision. You know about Adam and Eve and the apple? The whole situation is tempting. If you want to progress, we have to keep him. If we accept the offer, maybe falling a step back, we say OK.”
Palace dispatched Villa by this scoreline at Wembley before winning the FA Cup final in May in a run of 14 games unbeaten, their best such run as a top-flight club. They have won five and drawn one of their last six games with these opponents over the past two years.
Yet as Palace continue to defy the odds and their departing star players, Guéhi’s potential transfer to Liverpool following Eberechi Eze’s move to Arsenal and Michael Olise’s to Bayern Munich last year, Villa seem to be in danger of standing still, if consolidating themselves as a top-six club in England for a third successive season can be deemed so.
After three games, they are 19th, throwing their miserable summer’s transfer activity under an even harsher spotlight. Emery is convinced the bad vibes will dissipate once the transfer window shuts and the players return for their away games at Everton and Sunderland before commencing on their Europa League campaign.
Though Villa fielded a very offensive team, once Palace went ahead their fogginess re-emerged. Youri Tielemans could have headed home after corners at either end of the first half, but it was Jean-Philippe Mateta’s penalty that established the tone after Marco Bizot, the Dutch goalkeeper signed from Brest in the summer, felled Daichi Kamada. Only Mohamed Salah (13) has scored more Premier League goals than Mateta’s 11 since the start of this year.
Villa regained the ascendancy before succumbing to Guéhi’s gambit. The Palace captain started the move from deep in his own half before playing the ball wide to Kamada. When Kamada then won a loose ball off John McGinn, the England defender curled a sumptuous shot into the far top corner.
Palace’s win was rounded off when Maxence Lacroix headed on Jefferson Lerma’s long throw and, at the far post, Ismaïla Sarr nodded in. “Aston Villa, it’s happened again”, sang the triumphant travelling fans, thoroughly enjoying their 270-mile round trip on a Sunday night.
