Fixtures
- Crystal Palace Vs. Aston Villa – Sun, May 19th 2024, 16:00
Crystal Palace proved too strong as Aston Villa closed out the 2023/24 season with defeat at Selhurst Park.
Jean-Philippe Mateta was the difference between the sides during an even first half, netting a ninth-minute opener before striking again shortly before the break.
Eberechi Eze took centre stage as the hosts swarmed forward after the restart, scoring either side of teeing up Mateta for his hat-trick.
It was a rough end to a superb campaign for Villa, who were met with a great reception by the vocal travelling fans at the full-time whistle.
With injuries taking their toll and a fourth-place finish secured, Unai Emery made four changes to his starting XI, including a first league start of the campaign for Calum Chambers.
Palace came into the game as one of the form teams in the division after winning five of their last six matches, and they snatched the lead with nine minutes on the clock.
Michael Olise slipped a ball into the path of Mateta, who shrugged off Clément Lenglet and buried a shot past Robin Olsen.
Villa responded quickly and went on the offensive through Moussa Diaby, with the Frenchman racing onto Douglas Luiz’s lofted through ball and calling Dean Henderson into a fine one-handed save.
From the resulting corner, the goalkeeper denied Diaby again before Ollie Watkins saw a header cleared off the line by Marc Guéhi.
There was little to choose between the sides as the game moved towards half-time, but the home team put together a slick move to open up a two-goal lead five minutes before the break.
The ball was worked to the right-hand side, where a waiting Daniel Munoz delivered a low cross that was flicked home by Mateta.
Two superb saves from Olsen helped to limit the damage before the half-time whistle, but there was little he could do when Palace added a third nine minutes into the second half.
Eze benefitted from a fortunate ricochet before cutting in from the right and smashing a low shot into the corner from the edge of the box.
The home side’s No10 turned provider soon after when he collected Dean Henderson’s long throw before driving towards the box and teeing up Mateta, who evaded Lucas Digne and sent a shot into the far corner.
Eze was running the show for Palace, and he quickly notched his second of the afternoon, lashing a fizzing strike beyond Olsen.
There was a special moment for Finley Munroe late on as the youngster came on to make his Premier League debut, with Omari Kellyman and Kaine Kesler-Hayden also entering the fray to make their second top flight appearances.
