Trezeguet achieves Aston Villa first with Crystal Palace brace

Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan scored his first brace in English football as Aston Villa handed a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in Sunday’s Premier League game.

The 25-year-old scored in both halves as the Claret and Blue ended their 10-match winless streak against Roy Hodgson’s men. It was also their first victory in the English top-flight since January 21's triumph over Watford.

After Jack Grealish was fouled around 30 yards from Palace’s goal, Conor Hourihane whipped his free-kick into the penalty area which Trezeguet drilled past Vicente Guaita after the visitors failed to tidy their backline.

That was Trezeguet’s first goal in 2020 after a seven-month wait. The last time he scored was on December 4 when Smith’s side crumbled 2-1 to Frank Lampard’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

His second, which guaranteed maximum points for his team, came in the 59th minute courtesy of Conor Hourihane’s assist.

Christian Benteke’s dismissal after the final whistle added more woes to Crystal Palace’s defeat. The Belgian was shown a red card by referee Martin Atkinson for an off-the-ball incident with Ezri Konsa.

This was the first time Aston Villa avoided defeat in a league game in which the former Kasimpasa man had scored.

In the same vein, the double was his first brace in the English elite division since joining from the Turkish Super Lig on July 24, 2019, for a fee of £8.75 million.

Also, he is the second Villan to net a double in this season’s competition since Wesley Moraes against Norwich City in October.

In addition, only Grealish has scored more than him in this season’s English top-flight.

After an impressive display, he was replaced by Anwar El-Ghazi with two minutes left to play.

This win will serve as a boost for Aston Villa's survival chances and close the gap on their rivals above them. They are now four points behind Watford and West Ham, moving them up to 18th, and they face Everton next time out.

Elsewhere, Palace remain 14th and winless in their last five games, and they will return to Selhurst Park to face Manchester United on Thursday.