Aston Villa - 1 (Hendrie 36.)
Crystal Palace - 1 (Johnson 6.)

Before this match began every pundit in the land was tipping a walkover for Villa, including their own management. I guess one can never be sure in this game. The first action in the match saw Darius Vassell caught offside, the free kick being taken by Fitz Hall, and shortly after Wayne Routledge fired in a shot that was cleared by Olof Mellberg. The resulting corner was put back in by Wayne, but this time Gareth Barry was on hand to effect the clearance.

Danny Granville tried a shot from about 20-yards out that went just to the right of the upright, and as Andrew Johnson fired the ball in once more Mellberg was again on hand to clear the lines for the home team, albeit at the expense of a corner. This was sent in by Ben Watson, but the keeper was too good, and made a reasonable clearance of the ball before the Palace attack could pounce.

Ulises De La Cruz sent in a cross that Gabor Kiraly, retained following his performance between the sticks against Hartlepool, held on to quite easily. Moments later Aki Riihilahti sent in a cross that AJ managed to get on the end of, and he slammed the ball into the back of the net, to give us the lead with less than six minutes gone on the clock.

A foul by Michael Hughes on Jlloyd Samuel was the only thing of note for a few minutes before De La Cruz sent in a cross that was well plucked out of the air by Gabor. Juan Pablo Angel was caught offside, though Aki was caught immediately at the other end, and Lee Hendrie tried a shot that sailed over the top of the bar. Wayne had a shot at the other end that met a similar fate, and as Fitz sent a cross back into the danger area for Villa De La Cruz was on hand to once more save the day. Joonas Kolkka slammed in a shot that went over the top, by a fraction, and Hendrie tried again, this time Gabor doing well to hang on to the ball.

De La Cruz sent in another cross that Tony Popovic cleared, and his next attempt was again plucked out of the air by the commanding presence of Gabor. Wayne tried to centre the ball, but Hendrie blocked the path, the corner being well cleared up by Gavin McCann. Angel cleared up the next corner to Palace before Ben fired in a shot that missed to the right of the upright, leaving Thomas Sorensen the simple task of once more taking the goal kick.

Samuel sent in a cross that was caught by Gabor before Vassell had a shot that missed the upright, and flew safely behind for a goal kick. A foul by McCann on Joonas led to Ben sending in a screamer from 35-yards out, and Sorensen did well to hang on to the ball. Moments later though Villa was back on terms, as the ball fell to Hendrie, and he sent in a shot that sailed, and dipped, just into the top corner before Gabor even had time to react. 1-1, and about 10 minutes left until the break.

Hendrie was immediately booked, presumably for his celebration of the goal, and at the other end AJ tried another shot that was caught by the keeper. A cross from De La Cruz was cleared by Tony, and as Emmerson Boyce fouled Samuel the free kick was fired in by McCann, Gabor easily rising to hang on to the ball and avert any danger to the Palace goal.

A corner to the home side saw Nolberto Solano float the ball into our area, but Gabor punched it away to safety, and the following chance had to be tipped over the bar, as Angel got his header on target. The corner that was looking dangerous broke down as Palace cleared the ball, and eventually a goal kick came our way, assisting us to clear our lines.

With only about a minute of added on time the whistle sounded, and the players trooped off, with presumably the Palace contingent being just a little happier than the home side. Even so, Iain Dowie would have been upset that we had let our lead slip, and he would have been asking for the players to go out and re-establish the lead that their play so obviously deserved. You can bet exactly the opposite message was being heard in the other camp!

As the second half got underway Solano sent in a cross that Danny cleared, and Hendrie had a shot that went over the top of the bar. Ben sent in a long-range shot that the keeper did well to tip over the top of the bar, but the resulting corner was wasted by the Palace attack. Hendrie was replaced by Thomas Hitzlsperger before a foul by Ben on Samuel led to a free kick that Hitzlsperger took, his effort sweeping wide of the upright. Barry tried a cross into the centre that Gabor had little trouble dealing with, and Villa decided on a second change, replacing Vassell with Carlton Cole.

De La Cruz sent the ball in once more, only to see Tony make the clearance, and then Emmerson was booked for a foul on Samuel, though Tony again cleared that free kick. Wayne cleared the next cross, and Fitz cleared the corner as our goal came under siege, until finally a corner kick was well held on to by the Palace keeper.

Wayne steered the ball back into the Villa danger area only to see Sorensen make an effective clearance, and then Aki fired in a shot that was equally well held by the keeper. Cole tried a shot at the other end that was also held by Gabor, and AJ was caught offside just as a good forward move looked on for Palace. We decided to make a change as Fitz had been previously hurt, and on came Gonzalo Sorondo to take his place as Angel headed the ball wide of the mark once more.

Joonas had a shot that the keeper saved, and a change for each side took place, with Pete Whittingham replacing Barry as Tom Soares came on for Joonas. Michael sent in a corner that was cleared by the keeper, and then Whittingham had a shot that was blocked on the line by Tony. Mark Delaney was booked for a foul on Wayne, and as Ben fired in the free kick Tony got his head to it, only to see the ball fly over the top of the bar. Michael had a last chance on goal, the keeper tipping the effort over the top, and again the corner was wasted as the game came to a close.

Palace had recorded their second point of the season, in a game they were given little chance in, and we now all look forward to the visit of Fulham, and the Sky cameras, next Monday night.

Colin Pryce

Aston Villa: Thomas Sorensen, Ulises De la Cruz, Olof Mellberg, Mark Delaney, Jlloyd Samuel, Nolberto Solano, Gavin McCann, Lee Hendrie (Thomas Hitzlsperger 55), Gareth Barry (Pete Whittingham 81), Juan Pablo Angel, Darius Vassell (Carlton Cole 61).

Substitutes not used: Stefan Postma, Mathieu Berson.

Crystal Palace: Gabor Kiraly, Emmerson Boyce, Tony Popovic, Danny Granville, Fitz Hall (Gonzalo Sorondo 78), Wayne Routledge, Michael Hughes, Ben Watson, Aki Riihilahti, Joonas Kolkka (Tom Soares 81), Andrew Johnson.

Substitutes not used: Julian Speroni, Sandor Torghelle, Ivan Kaviedes.

Attendance: 34,843

Referee: Mr M Clattenburg