Trezeguet scored twice as Aston Villa beat Crystal Palace to keep alive their hopes of avoiding relegation in a game which included two controversial video assistant referee decisions. 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’s first Premier League win since 21 January was sealed when Trezeguet toe-poked home his second goal to leave the West Midlands side four points from safety with three matches, against Everton (away), Arsenal (home) and West Ham (away), to go. After the final whistle, 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”. Huge three points for Villa Villa are running out of time to pull off a miraculous escape but a first win in 11 league games at least gives them a fighting chance. After victories for fellow strugglers Watford and West Ham United on Saturday, the visit of Palace was a must-win game for Villa and Dean 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. Villa recovered from that scare to seize control, Mbwana Samatta heading over a good chance before Grealish was denied by a good Vicente Guaita save. The breakthrough came on the stroke of half-time, Trezeguet pouncing after a free-kick was inadvertently flicked on by Joel Ward into the path of the forward. Villa kept their focus after having Atkinson’s decision to award a penalty overturned, and Trezeguet struck a crucial second after the ball fell to him inside the penalty area. Reina produced a fine stop to keep out Van Aanholt soon after Guaita had prevented Conor Hourihane from making it 3-0. Villa’s aim is to be in with a chance of staying up by the time they face West Ham on the final day of the season on 26 July. This result at least gives them hope. --- *The Guardian* *Sunday, 12 July 2020* Mahmoud Trezeguet downs Crystal Palace to keep Aston Villa’s hopes alive Aston Villa are not going to go down without a fight after all. They started slowly here but ended up relatively rampant, fully deserving of the three points secured by two goals from Mahmoud Trezeguet. It has been a long time since a Villa forward scored one goal, let alone a pair, so Dean Smith’s side were grateful for the Egyptian’s sharpness, which ended a streak of 10 leagues games without a win. Villa are still in the relegation zone but only four points below West Ham and Watford. Their remaining matches are against Everton, Arsenal and West Ham. They cannot count on any of them being as vulnerable as a Palace side who sagged to their fifth straight defeat. Before anyone could mull over purely football problems, both clubs were moved to condemn another outbreak of racism, as Wilfried Zaha revealed abuse he was sent on social media before the game. “We deplore the disgusting racist message sent to Wilfried Zaha,” said Aston Villa in a statement before kick-off. “We are working with the police in investigating this extremely serious matter and when the culprit is identified AVFC will issue a lifetime ban.” Crystal Palace said: “This is an absolute disgrace and should not be happening. We stand with you, Wilf, and anyone else who has to suffer such horrific abuse.” When the game got going, it had a more sedate pace than might have been expected from a clash with such high stakes for Villa. Palace even had the ball in the net in the seventh minute when Mamadou Sakho redirected a free-kick into the net. But the goal was disallowed after VAR ruled he had used his arm rather than his shoulder. It was a close call but given the penalty decision that went against Villa here on against Manchester United on Thursday, and the goal they had chalked off at Selhurst Park earlier in the season, Villa no doubt considered the verdict a welcome break in their favour. Then they took charge of their destiny. Ahmed Elmohamady made several raids down the right, but Jack Grealish and Mbwana Samatta both failed to find the net after dangerous crosses by the full-back. Most of the play got bogged down in midfield. Zaha occasionally emerged from the morass to threaten a breakthrough but Pepe Reina saved his best effort in the first half. Zaha was also involved in some feisty barging with Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings, and that little flare-up was the main evidence of vim from Palace. Just as the game seemed to be trundling towards the interval, Villa got the goal they badly needed. After a foul on Grealish, Conor Hourihane curled over a free-kick from the left, Joel Ward could only head it backwards, and Trezeguet tucked it into the net at the far post, becoming the first Villa forward to score in the league since early February. Villa thought they had got the second half off to a perfect start when they were awarded a spot-kick after Patrick van Aanholt tangled in the box with Grealish but this time VAR’s intervention went against them and the decision was overturned. Villa did not dwell on that. They kept attacking. Palace’s attempts to stop them alternated between flimsy tackles and blatant fouls. Vicente Guaita was forced into a flying save from a free-kick by Hourihane, and Konsa came close to scoring from the resultant corner. Then Trezeguet struck again, finishing neatly after Guaita denied Samatta. Villa did not let up. Guaita was over-employed, compelled to bat away shots by Hourihane and Grealish as the visitors’ defence melted away. Palace mustered some pride towards the end and tried to make the contest closer. But Reina did well to foil their best effort, prevailing in a one-on-one with Van Aanholt. Christian Benteke was sent off after the final whistle for his role in some angry exchanges as the players headed for the tunnel.