Villa beats Palace 3-0 in EPL despite Mings' sending-off

Dec 26, 2020, 05:05 pm

BIRMINGHAM, England -- — Aston Villa belied the sending-off of Tyrone Mings to beat Crystal Palace 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday, with striker Ollie Watkins playing a part in all of the goals.

Mings was shown a second yellow card in the 45th minute for blocking Wilfried Zaha, with whom the defender had clashed to pick up his first booking.

Villa was leading 1-0 at that point, with Bertrand Traore scoring from a rebound in the fifth minute after Watkins had a shot saved.

Instead of sitting back and protecting its lead, Villa kept pushing forward in the second half and Kortney Hause made it 2-0 in the 66th by nodding the ball over the line from close range after Watkins had headed against the crossbar.

Anwar El Ghazi completed victory with a brilliant third in the 76th, smashing home an angled shot off the post after being teed up by the selfless Watkins.

It was another heavy loss for Palace, which was thrashed 7-0 by Liverpool last weekend.

Villa climbed to sixth place and has played a game fewer than most teams.

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