Aston Villa dropped more points in the title race as they were frustrated by Crystal Palace again in a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park to extend their winless run against the Eagles to seven matches in all competitions.
Brennan Johnson came close to a goal on his home debut for Palace in the first half, but the signing from Tottenham Hotspur was denied by Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who was then substituted at half-time.
Palace had come close to a winner when Justin Devenny’s shot from a rebound was heroically blocked by a Lucas Digne sliding challenge.
Then at the other end, in-form striker Ollie Watkins almost secured three points for Villa late in the game but saw his header agonisingly bounce off the post and to safety.
With Manchester City drawing against Brighton & Hove Albion at the same time, victory would have moved Villa up to second in the table. Instead, they remain third and are five points off leaders Arsenal, who host Liverpool on Thursday.
Palace have now gone six top-flight games without a win but move up one place to 13th in the standings.
How the match unfolded
The best chance of a quiet first half arrived for Palace when Adam Wharton exposed Villa’s high line and slipped in Johnson, who raced into the penalty area and saw his powerful strike brilliantly saved by Martinez.
Watkins went close twice in the first half, denied by Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson on one occasion and Maxence Lacroix’s block on another.
There was more action at both ends after the break, with Villa coming close when Morgan Rogers advanced into the penalty area after pouncing on Jaydee Canvot’s slip, and the playmaker’s low cross was inadvertently diverted towards his own goal by the diving Lacroix, with Henderson making a crucial save.
At the other end, Yeremy Pino’s bending effort was saved by Marco Bizot – who had replaced Martinez – and it was batted into Devenny’s path, but Digne made a goal-saving block to deny the Palace man’s rebound.
Moments later, Johnson’s searching cross caused chaos, with Tyrick Mitchell and Jean-Philippe Mateta unable to bundle the ball in at the back post.
Villa came the closest to scoring in the 84th minute when Watkins headed Matty Cash’s floated delivery against the post. Rogers smashed a close-range strike over the bar shortly afterwards as Unai Emery’s men were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
Johnson lively in first home game for Palace
This was a decent point for Palace, who are going through a difficult stage of their campaign, having dropped into the bottom half of the table.
Oliver Glasner’s men have often looked to be lacking incisiveness in recent weeks, but Johnson was lively and heavily involved going forward in a promising sign moving into the second half of the season.
The former Spurs winger tested Martinez in the first half, forcing the Villa goalkeeper to parry away his attempt.
In the second half, his team-mates matched his energy and became more adventurous, and another chance soon fell to Johnson, but Bizot comfortably saved his header from Mitchell’s cross.
Pino and Devenny also tested the Villa back line, before Mitchell and Mateta came close from a chance that was created by Johnson’s searching delivery, one of several occasions where he had advanced threateningly down the wing.
Palace will feel they deserved the point after a feisty home performance and they will hope to use this display against one of the Premier League’s form sides as a catalyst for their upcoming games.
Next up Glasner will be starting their defence of the FA Cup, with Palace travelling to National League North side Macclesfield on Saturday, before travelling to the Stadium of Light to play Sunderland in the Premier League on 17 January.
Villa miss chance to go second
Villa have now been unable to beat Palace in five Premier League matches, while the Eagles also convincingly overcame Emery’s side in last season’s FA Cup semi-final.
In the corresponding fixture earlier in the season, Palace brushed Villa aside in a 3-0 win, but this encounter was far closer and the visitors probably deserved to have brought an end to their poor run against this opposition.
Villa were the better side in the first half, with Watkins denied by Henderson and Lacroix respectively.
They also had two penalty claims, both for handballs against Palace wing-back Mitchell, but referee Andy Madley resisted their protests each time.
Their job appeared to have been made harder at half-time when Martinez was forced off for Bizot, but although the defence had to withstand some decent spells of Palace pressure, the away attack continued to create opportunities.
Villa came agonisingly close to an opener when Watkins hit the post, before Rogers blazed over from a presentable position.
With Man City dropping points, Villa may feel this game against a Palace side who are short of form was a missed opportunity, but they have still responded well to their heavy loss at Arsenal which rounded out 2025, with four points from a possible six since.
Villa will be back in London on Saturday when they play Spurs in an FA Cup third-round tie, before they face Everton at home in their next Premier League outing on 18 January.
Club reports
What the managers said
Oliver Glasner: "Credit to the players for their performance, commitment today and with all the circumstances, playing the most in-form team in the league and showing a game like this. I am very proud of every single player.
"We could see in the first half we are not full of confidence right now, but we worked into the game, and in the second half we created some good moments.
"At the end, we have to defend a few situations, the game could have gone either way, so a draw is fair result.
"Today we had, I would say, 12-and-a-half outfield players available, because Chris Richards only came back yesterday. This is why we made just one substitution."
Unai Emery: "We were winning a lot of matches but how we competed today as well was really fantastic. We dominated the first half, had chances to score and didn’t concede a lot. In the second half, we started with the same idea and started dominating again. We lost 15-20 minutes when they pushed, creating some chances to score.
"In that moment we were struggling, but we reacted fantastically in the last 20 minutes and created chances, hitting the post through Ollie Watkins, a very good opportunity for Morgan and Emiliano Buendia. We competed fantastic. In this match we were closer to winning but we drew, and we must accept it. How we are overall in the table on day 21 is fantastic."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Aston Villa saw a run of 10 Premier League games in which they scored come to an end, drawing a blank for the first time since a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in November.
Villa defender Victor Lindelof completed all 85 of his passes this evening, the best 100 per cent passing accuracy figure by a player in a Premier League game since Aymeric Laporte for Manchester City against Everton on 26 February 2022 (110).
Adam Wharton is the youngest player to start 50 Premier League games for Palace (21 years, 335 days), breaking Michael Olise's record (22 years, 18 days).
Emery remains without a win against Glasner in seven top-flight games (D2 L5), his worst winless record against any manager.