Aston Villa 1 Crystal Palace 0: Eagles shoot themselves in the foot with own goal and red card as Villans win

OLLIE Watkins may not have found the net for once, but Villa step towards their late bid to clinch a European place.

Villa striker Watkins was searching for a sixth goal in successive games to equal a club record stretching back to 1977 when Andy Gray last achieved the feat in the top flight.

GettyMatt Cash celebrates after forcing an own goal[/caption]

And with former Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel watching from the stands, everything seemed set for Watkins to continue his run.

But in the end, he had a rare off day – missing a golden chance to score before the break.

And it was Palace defender Joachim Andersen who ended up handing Villa the points.

His 27th minute own goal came with Watkins to pounce – but he was denied his record.

Palace’s day went from bad to worse as they had Cheick Doucoure sent off on the hour after collecting two yellow cards in as many minutes.

Doucoure’s moments of madness came as he lunged at Villa’s Boubacar Kamara and then sub Calum Chambers.

It means Palace have gone nine games without a win.

But Emery will be happy with a first clean sheet at home since taking over as Villa boss.

His previous two games saw Villa let in a combined eight goals against Leicester and Arsenal.

And this win was far from pretty, Emery will be satisfied with the fact that Villa are within sight of the top seven.

Villa started the brighter and Emi Buendia’s volley was deflected wide from eight yards.

But Palace then looked to have sprung a surprise when Wilfried Zaha had the ball in the net.

The Palace forward ran on to a pinpoint pass from Eberechi Eze and rounded Villa keeper Emi Martinez before cooly scoring.

But a VAR check showed Zaha was marginally offside.

PAJoachim Anderson steers the ball into his own net[/caption]

ReutersPalace were floored by an own goal[/caption]

Villa had more warnings about Zaha’s threat but it was Unai Emery’s side who took the lead thanks to Andersen.

Skipper John McGann fed full-back Matty Cash on the right and he whipped in a cross that looked like it would be dealt with by Palace.

Andersen nipped in ahead of Watkins, but got in a mess as he tried to clear and ended up putting through his own goal.

Villa might have been awarded a penalty when Jacob Ramsey went down under pressure from Nathaniel Clyne – but ref Craig Pawson was having none of it.

Then came the moment Watkins a clear cut chance to keep his scoring record going.

McGinn and Buendia combined on the right before the Argentinian forward put the ball on a plate for Watkins.

But the in-form Villa striker somehow fired wide of the target.

Palace reduced to 10 men just after the hour when Doucoure lost his head.

The midfielder’s challenge on Kamara earned him a first booking.

Kamara could not carry on and had to be help from the field.

He was replaced by Chambers who was then hacked down by Doucoure just two minutes later.

GettyVilla celebrate as Palace still haven’t won in the Premier League in 2023[/caption]

It was enough for Pawson to give him a second yellow and his marching orders.

But Palace almost hit back through Zaha after 67 minutes.

His chance looked to have going when he stumbled in the Villa area.

But Zaha picked himself up and curled a shot just wide.