Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard conceded we didn’t defend well enough at Crystal Palace but bemoaned the penalty decision in our 3-1 defeat.
Villa took an early lead through Ollie Watkins after making a bright start at Selhurst Park, but that lasted all of a few minutes as Wilfried Zaha drew the hosts level shortly after to deliver a crucial setback for us.
READ MORE: Crystal Palace 3-1 Villa: Match report, player ratings and analysis
Despite being outplayed and second best, Villa were able to get into the half-time interval on level terms, but a Zaha penalty and a goal from substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta secured all three points for Patrick Vieira’s side and inflicted a second defeat in three games for us so far this season.
Given how poor we were and how Palace were clearly deserved winners, it was disappointing, albeit expected too, that Gerrard brought up the penalty decision and suggested that was a key turning point in the encounter. Ultimately, we didn’t deserve to take anything from the game and having bigger issues to focus on and solve.