Matty Cash was delighted to record back-to-back wins and help Aston Villa pick up maximum reward on home soil.
The Villa right-back provided the low cross from which Joachim Andersen put into his own net, settling a closely-fought encounter against a Crystal Palace side who were reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Cheick Doucoure.
It was only a second win in six in the Premier League at Villa Park for Unai Emery’s side, who have won four of their last five on the road.
Speaking to VillaTV post-match, Cash said: “It’s amazing to get a win at home
“It was a close game, tense game, but some games in the Premier League are like that.
“To grind it out and get a 1-0 win is fantastic. Back-to-back wins, one away and one at home, and we move on with a positive mindset.”
Cash added: “The manager’s set us a goal to try and win at home.
“The first target when he came in was to win away and I think we’ve done that, on the road we’ve been fantastic. And we need to do that at home.
“I think we need to be more resilient at home, it’s such an amazing stadium, such a big crowd every week.
“I think we need to stick it together, be strong together, because when we’re winning and they’re loud it helps us massively.
“In games like that we have to be patient, obviously 1-0, we’re trying to build out, we’re trying to have a style and it takes time to do.
“Everyone has to be on the same page with that, but that takes time, we’ve got to be brave to do it, they’ve got to be brave with us.
“That’s how you pick up results, and I think here we showed good character.
“It’s not easy against a good side; I think they’re a really good team, they’ve got great players on the counter-attack.
“We’ve had a good win, so it’s brilliant.”
Cash’s involvement for the game’s crucial moment came in the 27th minute of the encounter.
John McGinn’s superb defence-splitting pass down the right channel found Cash, whose low cross was met by a sliding Andersen and his trailing leg diverted the ball past Vicente Guaita.
“I’ve had to wait my time a little bit to get forward,” said the Villa defender.
“Me and the manager have worked closely on that in terms of having my time when to go and when not to go.
“And here we thought there were spaces on the sides for both sides, that’s what the manager spoke about on Friday.
“So, he’s a tactical genius.”
