Aston Villa 0-0 Crystal Palace

Alan Pardew (left) was at Villa Park along with Palace chairman Steve Parrish (right)

• Successive 0-0 home draws for Villa
• Palace now winless in eight games
• Villa 12th in the table, Palace 18th
• Contract negotiations delay Pardew appointment

Prospective Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew saw the London club claim a goalless draw in a turgid encounter with Aston Villa.

There was precious little excitement during 90 largely chanceless minutes at Villa Park.

Villa created more opportunities, with Christian Benteke and Alan Hutton both testing Julian Speroni with shots.

Palace had the clearest opening, but Yannick Bolasie struck the crossbar after breaking past the home defence.

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Aston Villa 0-0 Crystal Palace: Paul Lambert understands frustrations

Pardew - who is on the verge of taking the Palace reins from caretaker boss Keith Millen - will have been pleased with his potential new charges' discipline and determination, but will also now be aware of the serious work he has to do to keep the London club in the top flight.

Palace remain in the bottom three despite this draw, which extends their winless run to eight matches, dating back to the 3-1 home victory over Liverpool on 23 November.

With a bit more ambition and greater composure when it mattered, the visitors could easily have won.

Bolasie's chance was a clear one, earned through the awareness of the midfielder to steal the ball near the halfway line, but with just Brad Guzan to beat, the 25-year-old's finishing deserted him.

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Pardew congratulated players - Millen

It was not the only time Palace opened the home side up, with only a last-ditch tackle from Ciaran Clark denying Wilfried Zaha a chance in the six-yard box.

With just 11 goals to their name, Villa are the lowest-scoring team in English league football this campaign and it is easy to see why.

They lack speed - of both thought and movement - in attack, making it easy for an opponent to stifle them ahead of the 18-yard box.

Their chief attacking weapons, Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor were starved of possession or given the ball in ineffectual areas.

Villa actually began the game well and twice forced Speroni to make low saves through close-range shots from Benteke and Hutton.

Their momentum was halted by a 15th-minute injury to Ron Vlaar and they failed to recapture it, with Benteke's first-time shot over the bar from inside the box and a Leandro Bacuna free-kick, which Speroni saved, the closest they came to scoring.

Villa's point lifted them above Everton into 12th position and they have a five-point cushion to the bottom three but need to significantly improve on a home record of just 15 wins from their last 63 matches.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert:

"The fans have been great but I understand their frustration. I'm sure if we had scored nobody would have batted an eyelid.

"They want to see their team win. I can't fault the lads for dominating the ball and trying to score.

"We have started a new way of playing and the lads are really comfortable with it. We just need the finishing touch and it will come."

Caretaker boss Keith Millen has been in charge of Palace following the sacking of Neil Warnock

Villa suffered a blow in the first half when Ron Vlaar was forced off with a knee injury

Palace have failed to score in five of their last six away games, and each of the last four.

Villa have failed to score in a league-high 11 of their 19 matches this season

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Aston Villa

• 1Guzan
• 21Hutton
• 5Okore
• 4VlaarSubstituted forClarkat 15'minutesBooked at 78mins
• 23Cissokho
• 7Bacuna
• 24C Sánchez
• 8CleverleySubstituted forGrealishat 64'minutes
• 10WeimannSubstituted forColeat 83'minutes
• 20Benteke
• 11Agbonlahor

Substitutes

• 6Clark
• 12Cole
• 28N'Zogbia
• 31Given
• 34Lowton
• 37Robinson
• 40Grealish

Crystal Palace

• 1Speroni
• 3Mariappa
• 6Dann
• 27DelaneyBooked at 86mins
• 34Kelly
• 2Ward
• 42Puncheon
• 18McArthurSubstituted forBannanat 90'minutes
• 28Ledley
• 7Bolasie
• 11ZahaSubstituted forGayleat 62'minutes

Substitutes

• 4Hangeland
• 9Doyle
• 10Campbell
• 13Hennessey
• 14Thomas
• 16Gayle
• 25Bannan

Referee:

Robert Madley

Attendance:

29,047

Match Stats

Home TeamAston VillaAway TeamCrystal Palace

Possession

Home69%

Away31%

Shots

Home14

Away6

Shots on Target

Home3

Away0

Corners

Home5

Away2

Fouls

Home11

Away12

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Aston Villa 0, Crystal Palace 0.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+4'

Second Half ends, Aston Villa 0, Crystal Palace 0.

Posted at 90'+3'

Foul by Carlos Sánchez (Aston Villa).

Posted at 90'+3'

Yannick Bolasie (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 90'+2'

Offside, Crystal Palace. Barry Bannan tries a through ball, but Dwight Gayle is caught offside.

Posted at 90'+1'

Offside, Aston Villa. Alan Hutton tries a through ball, but Christian Benteke is caught offside.

Substitution

Posted at 90'

Substitution, Crystal Palace. Barry Bannan replaces James McArthur.

Posted at 89'

Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 89'

Foul by Joel Ward (Crystal Palace).

Posted at 88'

Foul by Carlos Sánchez (Aston Villa).

Posted at 88'

Dwight Gayle (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 87'

Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Julian Speroni.

Posted at 87'

Attempt saved. Leandro Bacuna (Aston Villa) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner.

Booking

Posted at 86'

Damien Delaney (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 86'

Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 86'

Foul by Damien Delaney (Crystal Palace).

Posted at 84'

Attempt missed. Christian Benteke (Aston Villa) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Leandro Bacuna with a cross following a corner.

Posted at 84'

Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Joe Ledley.

Posted at 84'

Attempt blocked. Leandro Bacuna (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Christian Benteke.

Substitution

Posted at 83'

Substitution, Aston Villa. Joe Cole replaces Andreas Weimann.

Posted at 79'

Attempt missed. Martin Kelly (Crystal Palace) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Dwight Gayle.

Booking

Posted at 78'

Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

Posted at 77'

Foul by Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa).

Posted at 77'

Dwight Gayle (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 75'

Foul by Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa).

Posted at 75'

Dwight Gayle (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 73'

Foul by Carlos Sánchez (Aston Villa).

Posted at 73'

Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 71'

Attempt missed. Christian Benteke (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Carlos Sánchez with a cross following a set piece situation.

Posted at 70'

Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 70'

Foul by Adrian Mariappa (Crystal Palace).

Posted at 66'

Corner, Aston Villa. Conceded by Jason Puncheon.

Substitution

Posted at 64'

Substitution, Aston Villa. Jack Grealish replaces Tom Cleverley.

Posted at 64'

Attempt missed. Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Aly Cissokho.

Posted at 63'

Attempt blocked. Joel Ward (Crystal Palace) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jason Puncheon.

Posted at 62'

Corner, Crystal Palace. Conceded by Aly Cissokho.

Substitution

Posted at 62'

Substitution, Crystal Palace. Dwight Gayle replaces Wilfried Zaha.

Posted at 61'

Jores Okore (Aston Villa) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 61'

Foul by Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace).

Posted at 60'

Offside, Crystal Palace. Joel Ward tries a through ball, but James McArthur is caught offside.

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