Aston Villa exited the FA Cup in woeful fashion after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Wembley in our semi-final clash on Saturday.
Goals from Eberechi Eze and a double from Ismaila Sarr ensured the Eagles advance to the final next month, while Villa will look back on a costly week or so as we’re now in danger of falling short across all fronts.
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While it was only magnified given the occasion and the importance of winning to get closer to winning silverware this season, this was a dreadful performance across the pitch as Palace were deserved winners, and credit to them for a top display as they were excellent throughout with a gameplan and approach that worked perfectly for them.
In contrast, there was no aggression, intensity, urgency or quality from Villa to dominate in either phase, and as a passive effort continued through the course of the encounter, our hopes of winning a trophy fizzled out arguably without much of a fight.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Crystal Palace:
Emiliano Martinez, 5 – Beaten from distance for the opening two goals, and while they were excellent strikes, particularly for the first, Martinez wasn’t far off getting a hand to it as it was quite central. Will be disappointed in both his and the defensive performance as a whole.
Matty Cash, 5 – Played with a sense of urgency at times which was lacking all around him, but it was a difficult evening as he had his hands full defensively and didn’t add enough quality going forward.
Ezri Konsa, 4.5 – Missed a big chance at the other end which could have been a decisive moment in the contest, while we struggled to deal with Mateta all game as our defence wasn’t strong enough and lost too many duels.
Pau Torres, 4 – In the side for his composure and quality in possession, but we rarely saw it on this occasion. Similarly to Konsa, struggled in the physical and aerial battles with Mateta in particular, with many questioning why Mings didn’t start given his ability to perhaps win that specific duel with the Palace frontman.
Lucas Digne, 5 – Similar story to Cash in that they struggled defensively up against Palace’s threat in wide areas, and while he did get forward more consistently, there wasn’t a decisive delivery to make the difference.
Boubacar Kamara, 5 – Picked up a booking in the first half and while he continued to battle to give us some control and presence in midfield, there was nothing around him to help him transition that into attacking play to pose a threat of our own and so he had to do ‘too much’ in possession for us.
Youri Tielemans, 4 – Palace marked him closely throughout as they clearly made it a point of emphasis to cut off the ball to him and limit his time and space. That in turn led to a minimal influence on the game and that undoubtedly hurt us as we couldn’t play with any rhythm or control.
John McGinn, 5 – Always gives it his all with his tireless work ethic and threatened in the final third at times, but it wasn’t enough to help us stamp our authority on the game and impose ourselves effectively to dominate. Needed him to lead by example and for his teammates to follow, and it just didn’t click into place.
Marco Asensio, 4 – Another questionable selection from Emery, as the Spaniard was too quiet throughout in a physical scrap. Needed him to find pockets of space, dictate our play and find holes in the Palace backline, but he couldn’t do it effectively enough.
Morgan Rogers, 5 – Looked a threat down the right side and certainly gave Mitchell a torrid time, but there was no cutting edge to his play to find a breakthrough, and questions have to be asked why he’s playing on the right flank when he’s more dangerous in the middle or on the left.
Ollie Watkins, 4.5 – Lacked service and support in the final third, and so although he showed good movement and ran the channels to give us a different option and outlet, there was nothing around him to build on that and create clear openings.
Substitutes:
Leon Bailey, 5.5 – One of the only players to show urgency and intensity in his play, as he came on and played with intent to try and find a way through. Had a shot blocked in a scrappy passage of play in the box, but he was a ‘positive’ on a difficult evening.
Ian Maatsen, 5 – Similar to Bailey in that he came on and played with purpose, giving us energy and a push to go more direct. Again though, we didn’t do enough as a collective to make it count.
Ross Barkley, 4 – Continued to probe in the latter stages, but with his lack of football in recent months, it was a big ask for him to come on and immediately start to make us tick.
Jacob Ramsey, 5 – Injected speed and directness into our play on the left side and looked threatening, but offered no end product to go with it.
Donyell Malen, 5 – As with Ramsey on the opposite side, there was an increase in tempo and directness with the Dutchman, but the damage had already been done and there was no way through in the latter stages to get back into the game.
