Robin Olsen ‘chaos’ as Aston Villa goalkeeper clashes with Crystal Palace staff
Aston Villa had a night to forget at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace smashed four past Unai Emery’s sorry side.
In a defensive shocker from Unai Emery’s Aston Villa outfit, they simply could not keep pace with the Palace attack despite equalising through Morgan Rogers and having two further strikes ruled out for offside.
The night was compounded by a half-time injury withdrawal for Emi Martinez, meaning Robin Olsen was called upon to replace him.
Through no direct fault of his own, the Swede proceeded to concede three second-half goals as Oliver Glasner’s side roared through to claim victory.
Olsen involved in half-time incident on Crystal Palace pitch
Olsen was booed onto the pitch with considerable vigour by the home supporters at Selhurst Park as he entered the fray at half-time for Aston Villa in Martinez’s place.
For any supporters wondering what the supposed agenda against the veteran stopper was from the Palace fans, it turned out to be down to an alleged incident at the break.
The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell (25 February) pointed out on X what had occurred, namely that some half-time entertainment was planned but Olsen had refused to move from his warm-up area.
| Robin Olsen | 24/25 Premier League stats |
| Appearances | 2 |
| Appearances as a substitute | 2 |
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Goals conceded | 4 |
“Chaos here at half-time. Palace want to do some half-time entertainment but Robin Olsen is warming up and refuses to get out the way, despite being asked,” Tanswell explained.
“‘We shall not be moved’, sing the away supporters… Olsen is warming up.”
Crystal Palace’s home support will have enjoyed Villa’s plight even further in the wake of Olsen’s antics, though there is certainly an argument to be made that a professional player’s preparation for the match trumps all importance at a Premier League contest.
Either way, some organisation on all sides sounded like it would have been welcome, without knowing the full extent of the story.
Aston Villa suffer at Selhurst
Aston Villa couldn’t live with Crystal Palace in the second half at Selhurst Park, as they continue to struggle for consistency.
Emery had rotated elements of his team but by the time he introduced the likes of potential game-changers Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, it was too late to get even close to clawing respite from the clash.
Another issue to deal with now for Emery is that his World Cup-winning goalkeeper has an injury problem, though it is uncertain so soon after the game the extent of the damage.
Aside from a suspect punch which Villa got away with, Olsen was not really at fault for too much with the performance of the defensive line ahead of him.
It was the third competitive appearance this season for a ‘keeper whose contract at Villa Park expires in the summer.