Aston Villa fell to defeat in Premier League 2 on Monday evening, losing 3-0 in South London at the hands of Crystal Palace.
Two first-half goals from the hosts gave Josep Gombau’s Young Lions work to do in the second period at Sutton United’s VBS Community Stadium, as Ademola Ola-Adebomi’s deft finish gave Palace an early lead, before Dylan Reid doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time.
Despite seeing more of the ball after the break, the Villans proved unable to breach an astute Palace rearguard, as Ola-Adebomi’s second-half penalty completed the scoring to send Villa’s under-21s home from the capital empty handed.
Palace were in control throughout the opening stages, beginning the match in charge, with Villa struggling to gain a real foothold. The first warning sign for Gombau’s charges came seven minutes in, as skipper Seán Grehan dragged an effort narrowly wide.
But it did not take long thereafter for the Eagles to break the deadlock. Caleb Kporha did well to work space on the right against Kane Taylor, and sent a ball into the box which was neatly backheeled home by Ola-Adebomi.
The hosts continued to threaten, with Rio Cardines calling Lander Emery into action, but the Villans demonstrated their threat in transition as the half drew to a close.
First, Thierry Katsukunya headed Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba’s cross narrowly wide, before Charlie Pavey picked up the ball in space inside the area, but a vital intervention from recovering defender Jake Grante prevented him from getting a shot away.
And the Young Lions would be made to rue these openings, as the hosts doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time, when midfielder Dylan Reid rolled an effort into the bottom corner from the edge of the area to send the Villans in at half-time two goals down.
The Eagles retained their control in the second period and, while Villa saw more of the ball in their attempts to find a way back into the game, the visitors found goalscoring opportunities hard to come by.
Lively wing-back Kporha provided a constant threat on Palace’s right-hand side, and saw a pair of decent efforts well saved by Emery just before the hour mark.
But Villa could not keep out their hosts for much longer, as they found a third goal from the penalty spot to seal the points with just over 15 minutes remaining, Ola-Adebomi converting from 12 yards for his second of the evening, after a Palace forward had hit the deck inside the area.
Palace successfully saw out the closing stages through the four added minutes in the bitter London cold, to record a shut-out and condemn Gombau’s side to defeat.
