After goals from forwards Ismaïla Sarr (two), Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eddie Nketiah saw Palace past an Aston Villa side still in contention for the UEFA Champions League, the manager said: “It was brilliant. The players did fantastic today.
“We were a little bit surprised by their system because they matched us in a 3-4-3, but the players knew exactly what to do. They stayed patient. Also, at the beginning, when [Villa goalkeeper] Emi Martínez always waited with the ball, we know what they wanted. We ran and opened the pocket, and then with two or three quick passes, they found their players – so we stayed patient. We just gave them passes where we wanted.
“We were very sharp in the pressing and scored great goals. And also, we have to be honest, we were in one or two situations, one or two decisions, where we were a little bit lucky: our goal was allowed, their goal was disallowed.
“I'm pleased most today with the reaction after the [Villa] equaliser, because we missed several chances. We were just 1-0 up at half-time, and all of a sudden, it's 1-1, it was [from] one long ball. Then the momentum can change in a game when you face a team with all the quality of Aston Villa – but we didn't allow it today.
“We didn't allow the momentum to change because the players were so confident, and stuck to the plan and waited for situations, and were so aggressive and so sharp. And then we scored amazing goals, created so many chances, and it was really a very good performance today.”
