Player Ratings: Crystal Palace 1-2 Aston Villa - Two wins on the bounce for Gerrard’s Villans!

Emi Martinez: 7/10

Aside from conceding a goal in the final minutes of the game from a slight Marc Guehi touch on the ball, beating the Argentine at the near post, Martinez made the saves needed in the second half to secure all three points for Villa.

Matty Cash: 8/10

Was a handful for Crystal Palace all along the right side of the pitch. Once again, his marauding runs were well timed and the right-back stuck to his defensive duties when needed.

Ezri Konsa: 7/10

The always reliable Konsa put in another solid shift defensively and his movement off the ball always gave his teammates around him an option when required.

Tyrone Mings: 7/10

A cool, calm, and collected effort from the Villa captain. Many could argue that the defender should have done better to cut out Crystal Palace’s late second half goal.

Matt Targett: 8/10

The left-back showed real quality on the day and topped off back-to-back positive performances with the opening goal of the game.

John McGinn: 8/10

The Scottish midfielder was a true handful for Crystal Palace throughout the game and the freedom displayed on the pitch was for all to see. He’ll be extremely pleased to secure the game winning goal, which now puts Aston Villa on a two game winning streak.

Marvelous Nakamba: 9/10

The best performance that the defensive midfielder has had since joining Villa prior to the start of the 2019/2020 season. His hunger and determination to win the ball and ability to play some wonderful one touch passes were key in terms of securing all three points for the away side.

Jacob Ramsey: 7/10

The young Villan showed confidence both on and off the ball throughout the game — displaying the belief that Villa boss Steven Gerrard has in him.

Ashley Young: 7/10

The experienced veteran rolled back the years at times throughout his time on the ptitch, with his set piece delivery setting up Matt Targett for the games opening goal.

Leon Bailey: 7/10

The Jamaican provided sparks of creativity throughout his time on the pitch. Was great to see the tricky winger get some more minutes into his legs without the worry of an injury, which will only benefit Villa during the busy festive schedule.

Ollie Watkins: 7/10

Preferred to Danny Ings on the day, Watkins caused Crystal Palace all sorts of trouble throughout the game. The strikers running throughout the channels allowed for Ashley Young and Leon Bailey have a bit more space on the wings, which therefore brought the Villa midfield into key attacking areas on a number of occasions.

SUBSTITUTES:

Douglas Luiz (67 mins): 6/10

Replaced the young Jacob Ramsey in a bid to slow down the oncoming Crystal Palace attacking efforts and was briefly shown a red card for a clumsy challenge, but it was luckily overturned by VAR.

Anwar El Ghazi (77 mins): N/A

Emi Buendia (85 mins): N/A

MAN OF THE MATCH: Marvelous Nakamba

The Zimbabwe international showed true quality through the entirety of the game and has well and truly taken his opportunities under Steven Gerrard thus far. It’s fair to say that Douglas Luiz will need to put in plenty of work on the training pitch in order to replace Nakamba in the Villa midfield at the moment.

Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images