Late Aston Villa treble seals dramatic comeback win over Crystal Palace

In a crazy end to a game that Villa deserved to win but had almost thrown away, Jhon Durán equalised, Douglas Luiz scored a delayed penalty eight minutes into added time before Leon Bailey added a third.

Crystal Palace did everything they could to provide Roy Hodgson with a tonic as they appeared to have extended their unbeaten away start to the season thanks to Odsonne Édouard’s goal two minutes into the second half.

With their manager taken ill on the morning of the game and obliged to stay away, Palace survived a Villa onslaught in the first half to gain the upper hand, Édouard converting Jean-Philippe Mateta’s cross for his fourth Premier League goal of the season.

Then with three minutes of normal time remaining, Durán chested down Lucas Digne’s cross from the left before unleashing a howitzer of a half-volley beyond Sam Johnstone, who had earlier required medical treatment.

The game was eight minutes into the nine allocated as added time when Youri Tielemans put Watkins in on goal but, after the referee gave a penalty for Chris Richards’ challenge, the VAR sent Darren England to the dugout to review the incident. Replays showed the defender may have got a slither of contact on the top of the ball before upending Watkins but it was hardly a clear and obvious error to award the penalty. Going against the grain but staying true to his judgment, the referee deserves credit.

So Villa can jet off to Poland this week in high spirits, as they start their Europa Conference League group action against Legia Warsaw, while Palace are left to lick their wounds.

Palace, who lost Jordan Ayew to injury in the first half after Marc Guéhi had failed to recover from the muscle injury he collected on England duty, made light of their absentees to play with heart, organisation and, on the counter-attack, no little creativity, with Eberechi Eze again a stylish outlet. The Palace fans sang ‘Roy Hodgson, he’s one of our own’ and their togetherness is testimony to their manager.

With Palace leading, Unai Emery reacted with increasingly attacking substitutions and when Bailey showed great skill to weave down the right and cross, Durán’s shot was saved after Douglas Luiz headed the ball down for him.