After making his debut in Sunday’s away defeat to Newcastle, Brennan Johnson failed to capitalise on an early chance to endear himself to the Palace faithful in his first home appearance since arriving from Tottenham.
The Wales international raced onto Adam Wharton’s inch-perfect through pass, before he saw his rising strike pushed over by the alert Emiliano Martinez.
After surviving that scare, Villa grew into the half and threatened through in-form striker Ollie Watkins, who saw his first chance smothered by the onrushing Dean Henderson, before another effort required a crucial block from centre-back Maxence Lacroix.
With the contest finely poised, Unai Emery’s charges were dealt a setback when Martinez was forced off with an apparent injury issue at the break, requiring Marco Bizot to make his fifth Premier League appearance of the season.
Villa’s backup goalkeeper was given time to ease himself into the game as the visitors made sure the early second-half action took place at the opposite end of the pitch.
Youri Tielemans failed to keep his shot down after meeting Victor Lindelof’s accurate knockdown, shortly before Henderson reacted quickly to prevent Lacroix from diverting the ball into his own net.
The Eagles soon fought back with promising chances of their own, with Yeremy Pino’s curling shot drawing a strong stop from Bizot, who would have been relieved to see Lucas Digne back up his work with a last-ditch block from Justin Devenny’s follow-up effort.
In keeping with the back-and-forth nature of the half, Watkins went agonisingly close to netting a late Villa winner when his downward header bounced onto the post, denying the third-placed side a first H2H win since September 2023.
As for 14th-placed Palace, they would have been encouraged by their improved display, but frustrated by the fact they are now winless in eight outings across all competitions.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace)
