Soccer
Unai Emery believes Aston Villa can take positives from their goalless draw at Crystal Palace, despite missing the opportunity to truly cut the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Villa were held to a stalemate in a competitive affair at Selhurst Park, with the in-form Ollie Watkins seeing a headed effort agonisingly denied by the woodwork late on.
With Manchester City dropping points to Brighton in another of Wednesday’s Premier League matches, Villa had the chance to move up to second in the table, but now remain in third.
Brennan Johnson, meanwhile, came close for Palace on his home debut as he was denied by a stellar Emiliano Martinez save in the first half.
“We played the first half dominating and had control of the game, with possession and time to get our good positioning and through passes to create chances,” Emery told Sky Sports.
“I think in the last 10 minutes we had chances to win the match. One point is something that can give us confidence to keep going.
“We didn’t create a lot but enough to score one goal and we didn’t give them a lot of chances.
“They only had one transition and one good chance, but we saved it.
“In the second half we started well but they were pushing us and creating more chances in our box. Not clear chances, but we needed to react and the players reacted in the last 15 minutes to try and get the win.”
Wednesday’s stalemate saw Villa’s scoring run of 10 Premier League games come to an end as Emery’s side drew a blank for the first time since a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in November.
It also furthered Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner’s strong record over the Spaniard, who remains winless in seven top-flight games (D2 L5) – his worst winless record against any other coach.
The Boss’ thoughts following tonight’s point against Crystal Palace pic.twitter.com/BrW39kXRNW
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 7, 2026
The Eagles, however, are now winless in six Premier League games (D2 L4), last enduring a longer such streak between August and October 2024 (a run of eight).
They have also now gone six matches at home without a win – their worst run without a victory at Selhurst Park since going seven between September and December 2023 under Roy Hodgson.
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