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Aston Villa continued their good form with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace despite playing with 10 men for more than half of the match.
The hosts led Bertrand Traore’s opener and should have been ahead when Tyrone Mings was shown two yellow cards in quick succession just before the break.
However, Palace was unable to seize the advantage as it failed to seriously test Emi Martinez in a second half that saw Kortney Hause and Anwar El Ghazi extend Villa’s lead.
The result placed Villa in the top six in the Premier League, at least for a few hours, while Palace has now conceded 10 goals in two games after beating Liverpool last weekend.
Tyrone Mings is sent off for separate fouls on Wilfried Zaha
(POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Palace almost made the perfect start when Wilfried Zaha played fair, catching Mings on his heels, in the first minute, but Martinez made a good save.
And it was Villa who went ahead with less than five minutes on the clock.
Traore played Ollie Watkins down the right and was on hand to hit the ball into the net when goalkeeper Vicente Guaita stopped Watkins’ shot into the center of the area.
Villa looked dangerous every time they advanced and Traore nearly grabbed a second in the 17th minute, cutting down the right and hitting Guaita with a shot that ricocheted off a post.
The Palace goalkeeper later denied Jack Grealish after taking advantage of more holes in the visiting defense.
Palace thought they should have had a penalty when Patrick Van Aanholt fell under an awkward challenge from Matty Cash.
Having decided not to give a penalty, referee Anthony Taylor went to take a second look at the courtside monitor before continuing with his original decision to conclude a lengthy delay.
With 39 minutes left, Mings and Zaha received yellow cards for some argy-bargy after a foul by the Palace man on John McGinn.
Anwar El Ghazi celebrates goal
(Reuters)
Villa was back close to a second moments later, Watkins causing more trouble down the right before El Ghazi and Grealish had blocked shots.
The hosts’ failure to increase their lead became more of a concern in the 45th minute when Mings reached out to block Zaha and was shown a second yellow card.
Reluctantly he left the pitch and coach Dean Smith reacted by retiring Traore, who had probably been the best player on the pitch, to allow Ezri Konsa to enter, while Martinez made a great save to avoid Luka’s shot. Milivojevic.
Despite his numerical disadvantage, Villa continued to enjoy the best of the game in the early stages of the second half.
And the second goal that came in the 66th minute was not more than they deserved. Palace failed to defend an El Ghazi free kick, Watkins headed off the crossbar and Hause went on to score his second Premier League goal for Villa.
Guaita started the ball, but not before it crossed the line.
With Palace forced to send more men forward, Villa looked even more dangerous and, after Watkins saw a blocked shot, the impressive winger set El Ghazi up for his fourth goal in four games – a good shot from the far post. .
The visitors finally applied steady pressure, with Eberechi Eze shooting Martinez and Joel Ward making a cross over the top of the bar.
But Watkins almost finished the game with the goal he deserved, just for his effort to hit a post.
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