Aston Villa 2-0 Crystal Palace match report & highlights: Trezeguet scores twice as Villa keep fighting relegation

Egypt international Trezeguet scored in each half to hand third-from-bottom Villa their first win in 11 league games and move them to within four points of safety with three games left.

But VAR again had a controversial input as Palace were denied a seventh-minute opening goal when it was decided an effort from Mamadou Sakho was handball, with Villa also having a penalty overturned later on.

Dean Smith's side had taken just two points out of their last 30 available and had scored twice in eight league games.

Trezeguet's opening goal was Villa's first in 322 minutes, since Ahmed Elmohamady's equaliser at Newcastle on June 24.

Crystal Palace's run of five straight Premier League defeats is now Roy Hodgson's equal worst sequence in the competition.

Palace thought they had the breakthrough in the seventh minute. Sakho appeared to glance home a free-kick from Luka Milivojevic but VAR ruled it was a handball, with the ball coming off his upper arm.

Former Villa striker Christian Benteke was twice denied by Pepe Reina just before half-time.

Villa took the lead in the fourth minute of time added on at the end of the first half. Trezeguet, unmarked, sidefooted home at the far post after Conor Hourihane's free-kick flicked off Joel Ward.

The hosts thought they had won a penalty within 71 seconds of the restart. Jack Grealish went down dramatically under a challenge from Patrick Van Aanholt and referee Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot, but VAR ruled no foul by the Palace left-back.

Villa were denied in the 58th minute when Hourihane's free-kick was tipped around the post by Guaita.

But Smith's side did not have to wait long for that second goal - and it was again Trezeguet on target. The former Anderlecht winger toe-poked the ball under Guaita as Palace's defence stood still following Hourihane's pass.

Palace threatened when the clean through Van Aanholt was denied by Reina in a one-on-one, before Benteke headed over.

But Villa just about deserved to see out the win - their first for over five months - with Benteke red-carded after the final whistle after appearing to kick out at Ezri Konsa.

Aston Villa 2-0 Crystal Palace Opta stats

• Aston Villa have now won a league game on all seven days of the week this season – becoming only the second side to achieve this in an English top-flight campaign after Tottenham Hotspur in 1986-87.
• This victory ended a 10-match winless streak for Aston Villa in the Premier League (D2 L8), with this their first win in the division since January versus Watford.
• Crystal Palace have lost each of their last five league games, their poorest such run since they lost eight in a row in September 2017.
• Aston Villa scored as many goals in this win as they had across their previous eight league matches combined beforehand (two).
• Crystal Palace have lost back-to-back Premier League games against promoted clubs for the first time since October 2017.
• Crystal Palace have failed to score in the first half of 26 of their 35 Premier League games this season - more than any other side. Indeed, their total of 10 first half goals is the fewest of any side in this season’s competition.
• Trézéguet scored his fourth and fifth Premier League goals for Aston Villa, his first since December 2019 against Chelsea. This was the first time the Villans avoided defeat in a league game in which the Egyptian scored, having lost each of the first three.
• Only Jack Grealish (7) has scored more Premier League goals for Aston Villa this season than Trézéguet (5), who became only the second Villa player to score a brace in this season's competition (also Wesley v Norwich in October 2019).

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