Villa were looking to progress in the EFL Cup - and end their trophy drought.
But Unai Emery rung the changes and it cost Villa as they went down 2-1.
Matt looks at what went wrong for Villa and whether it was the right move to make so many changes.
But Unai Emery rung the changes and it cost Villa as they went down 2-1.
Matt looks at what went wrong for Villa and whether it was the right move to make so many changes.
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00:00Good evening from Villa Park, where it finished Villa 1, Palace 2, the quickest route to a trophy for Unai Emery's team this season
00:08now closed after a frustrating 2-1 loss. Doichi Komada substitutes for Crystal Palace, getting the winner after a mistake by Diego Carlos
00:17midway through the second half. Everichi Eze earlier put Palace in front, but John Duran had cancelled that out with his eighth goal of the season
00:28and for much of the first hour of the game, Villa created the better chances. Unai Emery made 10 changes, but Palace only made 3
00:38so it was effectively the second string against Palace's first team, but Villa looked the more threatening side up until Komada making it 2-1
00:46Unai Emery after the game defended his team selection, of course he did make a lot of changes, but I think the bigger issue was the bench
00:54not a lot of experience, Jacob Ramsey the only experienced attacking player on the bench, and he didn't come on even when Villa were trailing the game 2-1
01:03Emery saying afterwards that if he played the game 100 times again he'd still pick the same team again, I don't think the first 11 was the issue
01:10but it's another domestic cup defeat for Villa and for all the great work that Unai Emery's done since he's come to the club
01:17the domestic cups have been a disappointment, four home domestic cup games, cup ties under Unai Emery and Villa have lost all four
01:26including that defeat to Stevenage very early in his reign. Unai Emery says he wants to win a trophy at Villa, you don't doubt that he wants to win a trophy
01:34but clearly the Carabao Cup is not high on his list of priorities, understandable, but perhaps it suggests that maybe this Villa squad is not quite as strong
01:45as the top contenders, those top four, top five teams, which we probably already knew anyway
01:51but big positive, Tyrone Mings completing 90 minutes on his first game back in 14 months, he was very good
01:59considering all the time he'd been out, it was a bit of a surprise really that he'd completed 90 minutes, that should do wonders for his confidence
02:05and Boubacar Kamara as well played really well in midfield, so positives on the night for Villa
02:11but frustrating cup exit and a real sense of an opportunity missed in a game that was there to be won.