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Night off, off night - how national media reacted to Aston Villa's surprise defeat by Crystal Palace

Jhon Duran scored his eighth goal of the season in all competitions on Wednesday night
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Aston Villa were dumped out of the Carabao Cup in the fourth round on Wednesday night as Crystal Palace won 2-1 at Villa Park.

Eberechi Eze fired Palace into an early lead by heading past Joe Gauci before Jhon Duran equalised for Villa in the 23rd minute. Daichi Kamada won the game for the visitors just after the hour when he punished Diego Carlos for a misplaced pass by slamming the ball past Gauci.

The defeat brought Villa's 11-match unbeaten run to an end, which stretched back to late August. Here's how a selection of national media outlets reported on Villa's defeat to Palace...

READ | Van de Ven injury update as two more Spurs players doubts for Villa

READ | Mings shows what Villa have missed as Kamara causes boss a headache

The Telegraph

By Tim Nash

A deeply frustrated Unai Emery mounted a staunch defence of his 10 changes that cost Aston Villa a quarter-final place.

Villa are currently top of the Champions League but a severely weakened team suffered the club’s fourth straight domestic cup loss. It also brought an end to an eight-match unbeaten home record against a near full-strength Crystal Palace.

While Tyrone Mings made his first senior start for 810 days, Emery’s decision to give his big hitters the night off meant he had no options on the bench to threaten once early Palace substitute Daisha Kamada scored the 64th-minute winner.

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BBC

By Marissa Thomas

Daichi Kamada's winner delivered Crystal Palace an impressive victory at Aston Villa that puts them into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

Substitute Kamada latched on to a poor pass from Diego Carlos and unleashed a fierce low shot from the edge of the area as Palace retook the lead in the 64th minute.

Eberechi Eze had opened the scoring for the away side, rising highest to head in Daniel Munoz's cross from the right.

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Sky Sports

By Adam Bate

Crystal Palace won 2-1 against Aston Villa at Villa Park to secure their spot in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

Eberechi Eze's early header was cancelled out by Jhon Duran's equaliser but substitute Daichi Kamada capitalised on Diego Carlos' error to win it and vindicate Oliver Glasner's decision to name such a strong Palace starting line-up.

It came at some cost with Eze and Adam Wharton both trudging off the field in the first half having suffered injuries, but the victory builds on their weekend win over Tottenham ahead of what is a significant showdown against Wolves on Saturday Night Football.

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The Guardian

By Peter Lansley

Just as reports started surfacing that Oliver Glasner had until the ­approaching international break to safeguard a job he started so brilliantly only eight months ago, so Crystal Palace go and win successive games.

Whether this turns out to be a ­Pyrrhic win, on a night when they lost Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton to injury, remains to be seen but ­Daichi Kamada’s goal midway through the second half enabled Palace to reach the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup for only the second time in 21 years and, perhaps just as importantly, renew their confidence for the ­Premier League challenges ahead.

Eze had given a strong-looking ­Palace team the lead before Jhon Durán equalised for a much-changed Aston Villa but, despite losing two of their best players to first-half injury, Glasner’s team rallied to follow up their first league victory of the season on Sunday with this triumph. They will head back to the West Midlands in good heart for a bottom-four clash with Wolves on Saturday.

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Daily Mail

By Ross Heppenstall

As the inquest began at Villa Park there was anguish, anger and indignation. While Unai Emery was questioning how his high-flying side could lose at home to lowly Crystal Palace, Aston Villa fans were querying a selection gamble which backfired horribly.

The Villa Park trophy cabinet has lain bare since 1996, when Brian Little’s side beat Leeds to lift the League Cup, and this was a huge opportunity to progress.

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The Sun

By Phil Thomas

Unai Emery's high-flying Aston Villa were brought crashing back to earth by the resurgent Eagles. Villa had been nigh on unbeatable this season, with mighty Bayern Munich the most impressive scalp. But Crystal Palace found a way to humble them… thanks to a hefty slice of shocking defending from Diego Carlos along the way. Villa were trying to play it out from the back but never came close to finding John McGinn on the edge of his own box.

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