Aston Villa 3-1 Crystal Palace

Aston Villa mounted an incredible late comeback to beat Crystal Palace at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon, making it nine Premier League home wins on the bounce.

After dominating the first half, the hosts found themselves behind less than two minutes into the second half when the visitors scored with their first shot on target, with Odsonne Édouard finishing off a counter-attack.

The lead lasted until the 87^th minute when substitute Jhon Duran took Lucas Digne’s cross down on his chest before slamming a half-volley home in front of the Holte End.

A surging Villa then took a dramatic lead eight minutes into stoppage time when Douglas Luiz rolled home a penalty following a lengthy VAR check for a foul on Ollie Watkins.

Leon Bailey capped the stunning turnaround when he scored a third in the 101^st minute of the game, sending the home crowd into raptures.

The big news before kick-off centred around Nicolò Zaniolo, who made his first start since joining on loan from Galatasaray, lining up on the left of a front three.

However, both sets of attackers had little involvement in a low-key start to the game, with Villa enjoying plenty of possession and patiently probing for an opening.

But with 18 minutes played, Palace handed the hosts a glorious opportunity when Joel Ward’s misplaced back pass put Watkins clean through on goal.

The striker set himself and tried to pass the ball inside the far post, but ex-Villan Sam Johnstone got down smartly to parry his effort wide.

Villa were in complete control, and when Moussa Diaby controlled Pau Torres’ lofted through ball with a stunning first touch, he finished clinically to beat Johnstone.

VAR intervened and ruled the goal out for offside, with the Frenchman straying a fraction beyond the last defender, but it sparked a flurry of chances for the home side that saw Matty Cash spurn two good openings.

Having failed to test Emi Martinez in the first half, the Eagles scored with their first shot on target less than two minutes after the restart.

Substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta rolled Torres on the halfway line and set off down the right wing before playing the ball into the path of Édouard, who prodded the ball past Villa’s No.1.

Emery turned to Bailey and Youri Tielemans to try and wrestle back the levels of control they enjoyed during the first 45 minutes, but Palace were emboldened by their lead and pushed forward in search of a second goal.

And it nearly arrived when Ward somehow guided a header wide from the six-yard line.

Duran’s introduction sparked the home crowd into life and the Colombian quickly fired a driven effort on target from outside the box.

With 14 minutes left to play, Watkins came within inches of levelling the scores when his deft shot flew onto the far post, rebounding onto Johnstone’s head before going out for a corner.

Villa Park was desperate for an equaliser, and it was Duran who delivered it in emphatic style with three minutes left of normal time.

The striker took Digne’s cross on his chest before smashing a half-volley into the net, sending the home fans wild.

But the best was yet to come for the claret and blue faithful, who saw a penalty awarded to their side when Watkins was felled on 93 minutes.

A VAR check that lasted nearly five minutes was followed by Luiz coolly dispatching the penalty into the bottom left-hand corner.

Topping off an incredible turnaround, Bailey added a third when he converted from Diaby’s pull back.