Crystal Palace 1-2 Aston Villa: Eze return the only positive for Patrick Vieira after tame performance

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Crystal Palace succumbed to a disappointing 1-2 loss at home to Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.

While Patrick Vieira’s side had been in excellent form heading into the game, their seven-match unbeaten run came to an end in rather meek fashion.

Matt Targett exploited Palace’s problems from set-pieces by scoring within the first fifteen minutes after the home side failed to clear their lines from a corner and, while Palace enjoyed a lot of the possession, failed to convert that into anything meaningful.

Only in the 80th minute did they have their first shot on target and, despite boasting a front line including the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Michael Olise, Christian Benteke and then Eberechi Eze and Odsonne Edouard, Palace caused little threat going forward before John McGinn scored the second in the 85th minute.

Eze’s return, of course, is a major positive for the long-term and a late Marc Guehi goal did provide a fleeting glimmer of hope but the tame attacking performance will be of concern to Vieira.

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