Match ends, Aston Villa 1, Crystal Palace 1.
Aston VillaAston Villa1Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace1
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard called on his side to be "more ruthless and clinical" after substitute Jeffrey Schlupp earned Crystal Palace a Premier League point at Villa Park.
Schlupp had been on the pitch less than four minutes when he slotted in from Marc Guehi's knock-down in the aftermath of a free-kick with nine minutes remaining.
Striker Ollie Watkins, a doubt for the game after sustaining an ankle injury against Liverpool in midweek, had beaten Guehi to Lucas Digne's cross after 69 minutes to put the hosts ahead with his first attempt.
"We're a little bit frustrated," Gerrard said. "It was a good battle. With the chances we created, you expect to score more than one goal. We've conceded naively on a set play so we have ourselves to blame."
The Villa boss added: "We need to be more ruthless and clinical. We are creating good chances and we're playing really well but we are conceding stupid goals.
"There are a lot of areas we need to improve and I am sure we will be a lot better come next season."
Danny Ings twice went close inside the opening eight minutes for Villa, shooting wide following a darting run to the near post, and volleying over from Joachim Andersen's attempted clearance.
Palace offered a positive response, but Wilfried Zaha's stinging strike was parried by Emiliano Martinez and the Villa goalkeeper was also equal to Nathaniel Clyne's low effort.
Despite a late flurry of chances, with Watkins firing wide in added time, neither side could find a winner to improve their chances of securing a top-half finish.
Palace dropped down one place to 12th following Brentford's victory over Everton, three points behind 10th-placed Brighton, with Villa still one place and one point behind the Eagles.
- What's on the line in the final week of the Premier League season?
- Reaction to Aston Villa v Crystal Palace, plus the rest of Sunday's Premier League action
- Go straight to all the best Aston Villa content
- Visit our Crystal Palace page
Villa and Palace unable to improve top-half chances
Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira challenged his side to clinch a top-half finish and end a pleasing first season under his tenure - which also included a run to the FA Cup semi-finals - on a positive note.
The Eagles are unbeaten in four matches following this draw and require four points from their final two games to match their highest Premier League points tally of 49, achieved in 1992-93 and 2018-19.
Likewise, Steven Gerrard's Villa are chasing a first top-10 placing in the Premier League since 2010-11, but those hopes have taken a blow heading into their final two games.
The hosts were unable to capitalise on an encouraging start, as Ings failed to hit the target with three decent first-half chances - also curling wide after being teed up by strike partner Watkins.
It was Martinez who was the busier goalkeeper, but the Argentine was alert to well-struck attempts by Zaha and Clyne.
A largely uneventful start to the second half saw Matthew Cash flash an uncontested ball across the six yard box, while the Villa right-back was required to block Tyrick Mitchell's strike shortly before Watkins' opener.
Palace felt aggrieved that Watkins was not penalised for a foul on Guehi as the pair battled for Digne's cross, but Schlupp's near-immediate impact ensured Vieira's side did not depart empty-handed after an even encounter.
"I'm really happy with the performance," Vieira said. "It wasn't easy to concede that goal and we didn't deserve to concede that goal."
The Palace boss added: "We showed quality and character to fight and to find the strength to get back in the game and score."
Philippe Coutinho, who failed to shine following confirmation of his permanent move from Barcelona this week, was among several players to see late efforts blocked by committed defending at both ends.
Villa now host relegation-threatened Burnley on Thursday and title-chasing Manchester City on the final day, while Palace travel to Everton before hosting Manchester United next Sunday.
Player of the match
WatkinsOllie Watkins
with an average of 7.06
Aston Villa
Avg
- Squad number11Player nameWatkinsAverage rating
7.06
- Squad number23Player namePhilippe CoutinhoAverage rating
6.86
- Squad number7Player nameMcGinnAverage rating
6.69
- Squad number1Player nameE MartínezAverage rating
6.43
- Squad number2Player nameCashAverage rating
6.41
- Squad number6Player nameDouglas LuizAverage rating
6.28
- Squad number41Player nameJ RamseyAverage rating
6.26
- Squad number5Player nameMingsAverage rating
6.24
- Squad number27Player nameDigneAverage rating
6.21
- Squad number20Player nameIngsAverage rating
6.14
- Squad number10Player nameBuendíaAverage rating
6.12
- Squad number16Player nameChambersAverage rating
6.01
- Squad number19Player nameNakambaAverage rating
5.94
- Squad number4Player nameKonsaAverage rating
5.73
Crystal Palace
Avg
- Squad number23Player nameGallagherAverage rating
6.88
- Squad number3Player nameMitchellAverage rating
6.86
- Squad number20Player nameBentekeAverage rating
6.83
- Squad number10Player nameEzeAverage rating
6.73
- Squad number14Player nameMatetaAverage rating
6.73
- Squad number4Player nameMilivojevicAverage rating
6.67
- Squad number6Player nameGuéhiAverage rating
6.65
- Squad number8Player nameKouyatéAverage rating
6.63
- Squad number16Player nameAndersenAverage rating
6.62
- Squad number22Player nameÉdouardAverage rating
6.59
- Squad number15Player nameSchluppAverage rating
6.52
- Squad number11Player nameZahaAverage rating
6.51
- Squad number17Player nameClyneAverage rating
6.49
- Squad number1Player nameButlandAverage rating
6.46
Line-ups
Aston Villa
Formation 4-3-1-2
- 1E Martínez
- 2Cash
- 4KonsaSubstituted forChambersat 50'minutes
- 5MingsBooked at 9mins
- 27Digne
- 6Douglas Luiz
- 19NakambaSubstituted forJ Ramseyat 66'minutes
- 23Coutinho
- 7McGinn
- 11Watkins
- 20IngsSubstituted forBuendíaat 71'minutes
Substitutes
- 8Sanson
- 10Buendía
- 15Traoré
- 16Chambers
- 18Young
- 25Olsen
- 33Chukwuemeka
- 41J Ramsey
- 47Iroegbunam
Crystal Palace
Formation 5-3-2
- 1Butland
- 17Clyne
- 8KouyatéBooked at 89mins
- 16Andersen
- 6Guéhi
- 3Mitchell
- 23GallagherBooked at 14mins
- 4MilivojevicSubstituted forBentekeat 78'minutes
- 10EzeSubstituted forSchluppat 78'minutes
- 14MatetaSubstituted forÉdouardat 71'minutesBooked at 76mins
- 11Zaha
Substitutes
- 2Ward
- 9J Ayew
- 12Hughes
- 13Guaita
- 15Schlupp
- 20Benteke
- 22Édouard
- 34Kelly
- 49Rak-Sakyi
- Referee:
- Chris Kavanagh
- Attendance:
- 41,136
Match Stats
Home TeamAston VillaAway TeamCrystal Palace
- Possession
- Home48%
- Away52%
- Shots
- Home13
- Away16
- Shots on Target
- Home4
- Away4
- Corners
- Home1
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home11
- Away15
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Aston Villa 1, Crystal Palace 1.
Post update
Tyrick Mitchell (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Emiliano Buendía (Aston Villa).
Post update
Attempt blocked. Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by John McGinn.
Post update
Attempt missed. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Emiliano Buendía with a through ball.
Post update
Attempt saved. John McGinn (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Post update
Attempt saved. Lucas Digne (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Jacob Ramsey.
Post update
Foul by Tyrick Mitchell (Crystal Palace).
Post update
John McGinn (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Joachim Andersen.
Booking
Cheikhou Kouyaté (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Cheikhou Kouyaté (Crystal Palace).
Post update
John McGinn (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Conor Gallagher (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Christian Benteke.
Post update
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Foul by John McGinn (Aston Villa).
Post update
Conor Gallagher (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by John McGinn (Aston Villa).
Post update
Attempt saved. Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
- Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment
Comments
Join the conversation
So frustrating to see us give the ball away immediately after we won it back so many times today. We just didn't have an out-ball apart from hoofing it for Watkins to race their keeper. An issue with the system that Gerrard and the coaches need to work on.
But how Mugger McGinn didn't get carded was quite beyond me!!
Think that was a good guess.
But it seems a bit rich the complaints coming from Aston Villa fans when Jack Grealish was even worse. Seems like they have forgotten about that since he's left. Bet they scream and shout when they play City.