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Crystal Palace logo
Premier League
Aug 22, 2015 at 3pm UK
 
Aston Villa logo

2-1

Dann (71'), Sako (87')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Souare (77' og.)

Player Ratings: Crystal Palace 2-1 Aston Villa

Sports Mole reviews how the players fared in Crystal Palace's late 2-1 win over Aston Villa at Selhurst Park.

Bakary Sako marked his Crystal Palace debut with an 88th-minute winner in this afternoon's 2-1 win over Aston Villa at Selhurst Park.

The clash seemed destined to be heading for a draw after Pape Souare's own goal cancelled out Scott Dann's opener in the final quarter.

However, the ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers winger drilled home the winner in the dying minutes of normal time.

Here, Sports Mole analyses how the players fared.

Scott Dann of Crystal Palace heads to score his team's first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa at Selhurst Park on August 22, 2015© Getty Images



CRYSTAL PALACE

Goal

Alex McCarthy: Blameless for the goal more or less and pulled off a good save to deny Agbonlahor in a one-on-one in the opening quarter. (7/10)

Defence

Joel Ward: Struggled with the movement of Agbonlahor and the guile of Amavi in the first half, but looked far more assured after the break. (6/10)

Scott Dann: Guilty of a few slack passes in the first half which led to Villa chances, but made amends and thensome with a powerful thumping header in the final quarter. (7/10)

Damien Delaney: Expertly dealt with the physical threat of Gestede in both halves as he kept the Frenchman relatively quiet throughout. (6/10)

Pape Souare: Looked relatively solid for the entire game and was so unlucky to concede the own goal following Traore's mazy run. (7/10)

Midfield

Wilfried Zaha:Hauled off at half time following a lifeless 45 minutes in which he failed to trouble right-back Leandro Bacuna enough. Poor overall from the winger. (4/10)

Yohan Cabaye: Got an assist for the goal but overall looked sluggish and nowhere near worth his club-record £12.8m price-tag. (6/10)

James McArthur: Debate will rage over his offside goal, but other than that, the Scottish international was cool and calm in midfield for the most part, but struggled for the first half-an-hour or so. (6/10)

Jason Puncheon: Had one or two hopeful efforts but nothing that really tested Guzan. (5/10)

Bakary Sako: Anonymous first 45 minutes on his debut, but came to life when he was shifted to his favoured wide role and fired home a fine winner in the closing minutes to snatch all three points. (7/10)

Attack

Glen Murray: Also pulled off at the break following a first half in which he had very little impact - although he did lack plenty of service from his supporting players. (4/10)

Substitutes

Dwight Gayle: A half-time introduction and Gayle looked infinitely more involved than Murray, and fired the shot that led to the controversial disallowed goal. (6/10)

Jordan Mutch: After replacing Zaha, Mutch was another inspired sub by Pardew and he nearly had an instant assist when his cross for Sako was almost converted. (6/10)



ASTON VILLA

Goal

Brad Guzan: Perhaps could have done better for Sako's winner, but could do nothing about Dann's header. Very little to do other than both goals. (5/10)

Defence

Leandro Bacuna: Did not get forward as much as he would have hoped, and provided little contribution when he did manage to attack. (5/10)

Micah Richards: Ridiculously unlucky to be on the losing side today, and pulled off a goal-saving intervention early in the second half. A true captain's performance by the ex-Manchester City starlet. (7/10)

Ciaran Clark: Was too easily out-muscled by Dann in the build-up to Crystal Palace's opener on the 72-minute mark. Okay other than that. (5/10)

Jordan Amavi: Directly at fault for the defeat after inexplicably running the ball out of defence, before being punished with the ultimate penalty. Bizarrely, actually had a very good game overall. (5/10)

Midfield

Ashley Westwood: Sat in front of Villa's back four well - especially in the first half - but his delivery from set pieces left a little to be desired. (6/10)

Carlos Sanchez: Superb in the first half as he wrestled the ball away from a number of Villans regularly, but faded somewhat after the break like a number of his teammates. (6/10)

Jack Grealish: Villa's best player in the first half, and was not bad in the second half but his decision making became increasingly poor as the minutes ticked on. (6/10)

Idrissa Gueye: Contributed very little in both halves and found himself unable to influence things from his wide role. (4/10)

Attack

Gabriel Agbonlahor: Could, and should, have opened the scoring on 14 minutes but fluffed a one-on-one with McCarthy. Disappointing overall. (4/10)

Rudy Gestede: Started brightly but it became increasingly obvious that Delaney was not going to let him trouble his defensive teammates this afternoon. (5/10)

Substitutes

Adama Traore: Offered a glimpse into his immense potential with an excellent run that proved instrumental in Villa's equaliser. (8/10)


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Scott Dann of Crystal Palace heads to score his team's first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa at Selhurst Park on August 22, 2015
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Match Analysis: Crystal Palace 2-1 Aston Villa
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