Aston Villa can handle the pressure of a relegation battle and have given themselves a chance of staying up by beating Crystal Palace, says boss Dean Smith.
Trezeguet scored twice as struggling Villa secured a first league win since 21 January to move to within four points of safety with three games to go.
“We have found it hard this season and there is no getting away from that,” said Smith after his side’s first win in 11 league games. “I know these players can play under pressure. We have been playing tournament football since we came back. We haven’t got the points we need but we’re still in the tournament.”
In an eventful game at Villa Park, Mamadou Sakho thought he had put Palace ahead when the ball appeared to strike the defender’s shoulder on its way into the net — but it was ruled out for handball after a lengthy delay, much to the visitors’ dismay.
Villa then took the lead just before half-time when Egypt winger Trezeguet side-footed the ball into the net at the back post after Palace had failed to clear a free-kick. Shortly after the break, the hosts were awarded a penalty by referee Martin Atkinson after Patrick van Aanholt’s challenge on Jack Grealish, but the decision was overturned after another long VAR check.
Villa sealed the points when Trezeguet toe-poked home his second goal and, after the final whistle, Palace forward Christian Benteke, who was playing against his former club, was shown a red card as tempers boiled over.
Palace, who have now lost their past five league games, started with Wilfried Zaha, who revealed before the match he had received racist abuse on social media. Palace manager Roy Hodgson described the abuse of the 27-year-old Ivory Coast forward as “cowardly and despicable”.
Villa are running out of time to pull off a miraculous escape but a battling win at least gives them a fighting chance of avoiding the drop. After victories for fellow strugglers Watford and West Ham United on Saturday, the visit of Palace was a must-win game for Villa and Smith’s side delivered — even if they did require a slice of luck to achieve it.
With the game goalless, it appeared a harsh VAR decision to deny Sakho a goal because of handball as Luka Milivojevic’s looping ball appeared to come off the defender’s shoulder on its way past keeper Pepe Reina.
