Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace report: Joleon Lescott goal hands Villans first win since opening day

Aston Villa 1 Crystal Palace 0

Joleon Lescott celebrates his side's win (Getty Images)

For Aston Villa, the long wait is over. One hundred and 57 days after last tasting victory in the Premier League, on the opening day of the season at Bournemouth, their beleaguered players finally tasted that winning feeling again last night.

The fact they did it with one of the scruffiest goals you will see all season really did not matter to a club starved of even crumbs of comfort this term.

It might be premature to say Rémi Garde’s reign has lift-off – this was the Frenchman’s 11^th match as manager and his team remain four points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League – yet the explosion of noise at the final whistle was a welcome change to the mutinous mood music of the last few days.

Three days after his involvement in the club’s latest PR gaffe of a torrid campaign, Joleon Lescott proved the unlikeliest of heroes with the only goal against a disappointing Crystal Palace side. He and goalkeeper Brad Guzan had been accused of fooling around with chewing gum and swearing at their own supporters during the FA Cup third-round draw at Wycombe Wanderers last Saturday, and as a consequence had their names booed before kick-off.

Aston Villa's players congratulate Joleon Lescott on his goal (Getty Images)

After 58 minutes, though, Lescott mustered the perfect response as Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey fumbled his header over the goalline. The big centre-back – a boyhood Villa fan – only half-celebrated, in apparent response to those pre-match jeers, yet he was the only one holding back.

This was Villa’s first home league win since they beat West Ham United on 9 May. It may still prove too late for a team still eight points behind fourth-bottom Swansea City but for most of the 28,245 inside Villa Park it brought a flicker of hope on a dank Midlands night.

The sight of Garde’s players embracing at the final whistle could not have been more different from the scenes outside Adams Park on Saturday when Villa’s players ran a gauntlet of abuse as they boarded their team coach.

It was richly deserved too and it means Villa can now approach next Saturday’s home fixture with Leicester City with renewed belief.

Asked whether this win could provide the launch pad Villa need, Garde said: “I don’t know. We have to stay very humble. It is only three points, we are far away from what we all want but let’s say this victory could give us a little bit more confidence, not only the victory but the way we played tonight.

“ I didn’t see a bottom team playing. The difference between Palace and Aston Villa tonight didn’t reflect the table for me. I want my players to be more confident with the possibilities we have and hopefully that is what will happen.

Garde added that “today we had the bit of luck” they needed and he highlighted the role of Lescott, saying: “Joleon is a very experienced player, the kind of player who spreads calm around him. He knows the game well and for me he is a player I can rely on tactically.”

For Garde, the victory rewarded some bold decision-making as he kept Guzan on the bench and gave Mark Bunn, who had replaced the American for the Wycombe game, his first Premier League appearance since joining the club on a free transfer from Norwich City in the summer.

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew looks on disappointed during his side's defeat (Getty Images)

Villa’s plight means Garde has to gamble and he did that with his attacking selection too, handing Czech forward Libor Kozak his first league start since he suffered a broken leg in January 2014. As it was, the hosts’ main attacking threat came once more from Jordan Ayew. Villa’s position at the foot of the table says everything about their recruitment errors last summer but the Ghanaian is a notable exception. The one Villa players who has worried opposition defences this term, he left Palace full-back Papa Souare on his backside with one surge into the visitors’ box and later flashed a shot into the sidenetting.

As for Palace, the sight of Bakary Sako leading the attack highlighted Alan Pardew’s wish for a new striker and things got no better when Connor Wickham came on for the start of the second period. That said, they still created the better openings of the first half. Villa’s fragile confidence so nearly took another dent inside 44 seconds when Wilfried Zaha got behind the home defence on a one-two with Jason Puncheon. Cutting inside from the left, he curled the ball around Bunn but on to the far post. Sako and Delaney also went close, but Villa deserved the luck that eventually came their way.

Kozak came close just after the restart when he muscled his way between two white shirts and got in a deflected shot that Hennessey turned around the post. And when a four-man move ended with Delaney turning behind Cissokho’s drive cross, Villa’s moment arrived. Lescott rose above Scott Dann and Wickham but though his header went straight at Hennessey, the goalkeeper let the ball fall to the ground where it rolled between his legs and over the goalline.

Alan Pardew, the Palace manager, said: “The goal was disappointing. Wayne’s first touch puts him in trouble, he has been brilliant for us, his mistake tonight has cost us the goal but we’ve made mistakes in other areas all night.”

In the absence of the injured Yannick Bolasie, Palace have now failed to score in their last four league games and Pardew added that Villa were worthy winners. “We came across an Aston Villa team tonight that worked very hard, regrouped themselves and from the videos and games I analysed that was their best performance and we struggled to cope with it.”

With Palace unable to generate any attacking momentum, Villa looked comfortable with their lead and might have had a second goal when Ayew jinked wonderfully between Joel Ward and Puncheon but drove his shot over the crossbar.