Unai Emery defends 10 Carabao Cup changes as Crystal Palace defeat weakened Aston Villa side
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.
“We are disappointed and frustrated, but the most important thing is if I am repeating this match 100 more times, I would play these same players,” Villa manager Emery said. “Of course we want to win a trophy – that’s my aim here.
“We started with Tyrone Mings and Diego Carlos – they can play in the starting XI.
“We started with Kosta [Nedeljkovic] and Ian Maatsen, who we signed to be in the squad and play matches like this.
“We started with John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Leon Bailey, Jhon Duran and Emi Buendia.
“So I don’t know if I can have some regret [after playing that line-up].”
Emery added: “Last season we played the semi-final of the Europa Conference League, and although we went out of two cups last year, the most important thing was we got to play in the Champions League.
“We want to be competitive in every competition but if we are not getting our best performances every match we are playing, we have to try to keep trying to improve the team.”
Palace manager Oliver Glasner’s joy was severely tempered by the first-half injury loss of scorer Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton.
“Eze has a problem with his hamstring but we don’t know how serious it is,” Glasner said. “Then we conceded the equaliser and we had to make another sub because Adam has a groin issue.
“It was difficult for Kamada to come on after 15 minutes or so, then losing the ball for the equaliser. Everyone would like to have a better start than that!
“But I spoke to him at half-time because sometimes he wants it a little bit too much, and said ‘stay calm and get us a goal’.”
Palace stunned Villa Park by taking a surprise lead in the eighth minute.
Eze was unmarked after cleverly pulling off his marker to send a downward header into the bottom corner of the net from 12 yards to get on the end of Daniel Munoz’s deep, pacy cross.
Eberechi Eze HEADS Crystal Palace ahead against Aston Villa! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sVlNhXPkzP
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 30, 2024
Eze lasted until the 18th minute, to be replaced by Kamada.
Villa were level in the 23rd minute when Jhon Duran squeezed in a deflected shot at Matthew Turner’s left-hand post from Leon Bailey’s pull back.
The goal owed much to the industry and vision of Boubacar Kamara.
The French midfielder dispossessed Kamada before finding Bailey racing clear with a superb chip over the top.
Jhon Duran EQUALISES for Aston Villa 🚨
It is now 1-1 at Villa Park. pic.twitter.com/7fFcDRob0n— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 30, 2024
But the impish Kamada was to have a much greater impact as he put Palace back in front in the 64th minute.
The Japanese forward steered a low effort past Joe Gauci into the bottom corner.
Daichi Kamada scores for Crystal Palace to go 2-1 up at Aston Villa! 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/yZ8n4fC1E4
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 30, 2024
The substitute punished a poor pass out from the back by Kosta Nedeljkovic, the right-back, to John McGinn, which he easily intercepted before shooting from just inside the box.