Aston Villa 1-2 Crystal Palace: FLW report as Palace progress to EFL Cup last 8

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Football League World

·30 October 2024

Aston Villa 1-2 Crystal Palace: FLW report as Palace progress to EFL Cup last 8

FLW reports live from Villa Park for this all Premier League tie in the EFL Cup

In an all Premier League encounter, Crystal Palace emerged 2-1 victors against Aston Villa in the last 16 of the EFL Cup, reaching the quarter-final stage for the first time since the 2011/12 campaign.

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An eighth-minute header from Eberechi Eze and 64th minute strike from his replacement Daichi Kamada were enough for Oliver Glasner's side to progress into the last eight, whilst Jhon Duran continued his impressive start to the season with a seventh goal of the campaign midway through the first half.

Unai Emery rang the changes from Villa's disappointing 1-1 draw at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon with ten in total, which included Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara's first starts of the season after lengthy lay-offs.

Palace went with a much stronger approach to team selection, with Matthew Turner, Will Hughes and Eddie Nketiah the three changes from their weekend success over Tottenham Hotspur.

Crystal Palace edge past Aston Villa as Kamada strikes again

After a cagey opening five minutes, Leon Bailey fashioned the game's first clear-cut chance, but his fizzing effort was beaten away by Turner, who was making his debut for the South London side.

Moments later, Jaden Philogene set up the Jamaican, but the less said about this effort the better, as it spurned way wide of the right-hand post.

Jean-Phillipe Mateta then flashed a warning sign of Palace's own, although the Frenchman's effort was never going to trouble Joe Gauci.

However, the Villans were unable to heed such a warning just seconds later, as a sublime cross from Daniel Munoz found the head of Eberechi Eze, who was left completely unchallenged in the centre of the box to head past the Australian and into the bottom right-hand corner.

Just minutes after handing his side the advantage, Eze would then be replaced by Daichi Kamada.

Munoz continued to impress on the right flank for Oliver Glasner's men, and after Adam Wharton was given the freedom of Villa Park, another whipped in cross from the Brazilian was sent just over the top by Mateta.

But on 22 minutes, Villa would find themselves level against the run of play, courtesy of Jhon Duran.

After initially clearing their lines, the Eagles failed to deal with recycled pressure, as Kamara played in Bailey, with the Jamaican finding Duran in a pocket of space, and his effort proved too strong for Turner.

The 20-year-old then looked to take the game by the scruff of its neck as half-time approached, making a lung-busting run whilst right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic made a dart of his own into an unorthodox left-wing position, but the young duo's efforts of completing a swift turnaround were halted by an onrushing Turner.

The left flank was a key feature in Villa's first-half performance, and after drifting inside, Philogene saw a powerful effort well blocked by Trevoh Chalobah, before Bailey recorded the final chance of a pulsating half which brought the best out of Turner once again.

Attacking the Holte End in the second half, and the hosts looked to continue where they'd left off, as Duran was sent free, before a powerful, yet speculative effort forced Turner into a fine save.

Ian Maatsen then drove forward on 57 minutes, and his effort - deflected by Chalobah - once again fell to the Villa front man, who was unable to convert from a tight angle.

Eddie Nketiah then fizzed a low ball in towards Mateta, but the danger would eventually be snuffed out through a combination of Gauci and Mings.

Moments later, whilst protests from the home sections of Villa Park were rife as Emi Buendia was left unattended, Kamada sent a fizzing effort across Gauci's net, but it lacked the required direction to find the bottom corner.

However, the Japanese's persistance would be rewarded, as a carbon-copy of the above attempt rightfully punished a lacklustre forward ball from Diego Carlos, whilst wrong-footing Gauci in the process as the ball nestled in the left-hand corner - his second goal in the EFL Cup this season.

Villa looked to restore parity on 69 minutes as Philogene linked up with Bailey once more, but the winger's effort was skewed well over the crossbar, before the former Hull City man saw another effort easily gathered.

The rest of the encounter saw Palace's game-management come to the fore, summoning Villa to a third successive exit in this competition at the hands of fellow top flight opponents, following on from defeats to Manchester United and Everton in 2022 and 2023 respectively.