Aston Villa suffered a 4-1 defeat at Crystal Palace on Tuesday night as we produced a woeful performance at Selhurst Park.
Some questionable decisions from the officials didn’t help our cause during the course of the encounter, but once again our defensive vulnerabilities were exposed as we continue to fail to address them or find solutions.
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Villa have now conceded 45 goals in 28 league outings, giving us the sixth worst defensive record in the top flight, and our inability to find a fix will continue to hold us back from consistently winning games and developing into a top side capable of challenging for major honours.
After a positive couple of results last week, it’s a dreadful way to lose our momentum, as we now look to produce a response on Friday night in our FA Cup tie with Cardiff City, with our relentless schedule continuing to test our resolve.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Crystal Palace:
Emiliano Martinez, 4 – Parried the initial attempt right into the danger zone for the opening goal, and almost did the same again when Sarr should have doubled Palace’s lead. Left exposed by his defence once again though which made it more difficult for him before he came off at the break with an injury issue.
Andres Garcia, 5 – Asserted himself well at times while trying to push on and provide a threat in the final third when possible. Replaced at half-time.
Axel Disasi, 4 – Slow reaction and movement was punished as the Villa defence was cut through and pulled apart, was part of our problems at the back as we weren’t good enough defensively throughout.
Ezri Konsa, 4 – Lost Mateta for his goal as he simply failed to track his run off the ball, and so similarly to the rest of our defensive unit, he was well below par and didn’t react quickly enough to danger with our marking also woeful in the box.
Lamare Bogarde, 4 – Started positively as he looked assured on the ball, but like the rest of the backline, they offered few reassurances that we could maintain a solid foundation throughout the clash.
Lucas Digne, 4 – Didn’t offer much going forward and was put under pressure from Palace’s threat down that side of the pitch.
Youri Tielemans, 5 – Although we didn’t control the midfield as we wanted to, he was still influential at times as we played with more rhythm and created openings. Had a big chance at 0-0 as he broke forward, but like the rest of the team, we collapsed as the game went on.
John McGinn, 5 – Continued to battle and try to impose himself in midfield to give us a foothold, but for the positive work he did, he was also caught out at times too as we couldn’t control that particular battle and play at our tempo with our gameplan.
Morgan Rogers, 6.5 – Posed our main threat as his movement and breaking runs caused problems. Had a goal ruled out by VAR which was a baffling decision, but found the back of the net at the start of the second half to continue his good form and get us back into the game with another decisive contribution.
Jacob Ramsey, 5.5 – His positional awareness and movement caused problems in the first half, as he also had a goal ruled out for offside. However, his impact and influence regressed as the game went on, and he was eventually replaced.
Ollie Watkins, 6 – Difficult night for him to lead the line, but provided a focal point and linked things together well at times. Was excellent in creating as he provided for Rogers for our goal, as well as for his effort that was chalked off when he looked to be onside in the build-up.
Substitutes:
Leon Bailey, 4.5 – Didn’t make much of an impact in the final third, tracked back and made some key interventions at times to underline our defensive disorganisation.
Robin Olsen, 4 – Similarly to Martinez, he was left exposed by his defence which made his life more difficult as we conceded three goals in the second half.
Marco Asensio, 4.5 – Difficult game situation to come on into, couldn’t provide a spark to get us back into the game as we collapsed.
Marcus Rashford, 4.5 – Similar story to Asensio, the game was starting to slip away before they could make the desired impact as they have done in previous games.
Ian Maatsen, N/A