Collymore rages at John McGinn incident v Crystal Palace – ‘Unsustainable’
Stan Collymore was left raging at John McGinn as Aston Villa lost 4-1 to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Tuesday night.
Ismalia Sarr scored twice for Crystal Palace with Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eddie Nketiah scoring to cancel out Morgan Rogers’ equaliser to help the Eagles soar into 12th place in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, the lacklustre Villans dropped down to 10th thanks to Brighton and Fulham both winning elsewhere on 25 February.
Former Aston Villa striker Collymore was furious with the nature of Villa’s result, especially with the manner in which Unai Emery saw his side concede the first goal.
McGinn blamed for Crystal Palace opener v Aston Villa
It took two attempts at crossing the ball into the box but Palace eventually opened the scoring in the 29th minute through Sarr.
Collymore, however, thinks Aston Villa could have easily avoided conceding the goal if it wasn’t for McGinn gifting the home side possession.
“Palace goal comes from Villa’s good and under no threat possession,” said Collymore via his personal X account on Tuesday night.
“McGinn gives [the] ball away [on the] halfway line needlessly, Palace get a little pressure, goal.
“Another unforced error, another game going behind.
“At this point I feel for the forwards, having to score just to be in par in any game. Unsustainable.”
Aston Villa defensive woes continue
Emery has seen his side keep just one clean sheet in their last 18 matches across all competitions.
In fact, Emi Martinez – apparently the best goalkeeper in the world – has only kept three clean sheets in 28 Premier League appearances.
And even they came against teams who’ve been in relegation trouble at points this season; Southampton, Everton and Manchester United.
Villa have made a habit out of conceding goals cheaply.
| Premier League team | Goals conceded |
| Southampton | 64 |
| Leicester | 59 |
| Wolves | 56 |
| Ipswich | 54 |
| West Ham | 47 |
| Aston Villa | 45 |
It’s often but more stress on the attackers to pick up goals and luckily, Emery does have Ollie Watkins and Marcus Rashford to rely on now, having earlier in the season had Jhon Duran before his move to Al-Nassr.
But if the goals dry up, Villa are going to start losing matches regularly.
Emery cannot allow senior players like McGinn to be letting him down regularly and playing a role in conceding goals simply by being careless in possession.