ISMAILA Sarr scored twice on his birthday to help Crystal Palace thump Aston Villa 4-1 at Selhurst Park – but Eagles boss Oliver Glasner was in no mood to celebrate as he immediately turned his thoughts to Millwall this weekend.
Sarr’s goal had the hosts in front at the break before Morgan Rogers levelled seven minutes into the second half.
But Palace roared to just their third home win in the Premier League this season when Jean-Philippe Mateta curled past substitute goalkeeper Robin Olsen, Sarr – 27 on Tuesday – got his second, and Eddie Nketiah completed the rout a minute into stoppage-time.
Palace have won five of their last seven games and now focus on their FA Cup fifth-round clash against the Lions at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
“We don’t have time to celebrate,” Glasner said. “In four days we face Millwall. Of course, a win, and a goal, and a great performance from [Sarr] and the team – great birthday for him.”
“To be honest, the first time we didn’t speak about winning this game. We talked about what we wanted to do.
“They matched us, but the players know what they have to do, and they did it in a fantastic intensity. We talked about what we want to do and what we need to do. The result is the consequence of a great performance.
“Everybody is pleased with the win. Congrats to the players for this great performance.
“The momentum of the game can change when you face a team with the quality of Villa. We didn’t allow the momentum changes, and we kept going. We were very aggressive and waited for our chances. We scored fantastic goals – all the credit to the players.”
Nketiah’s goal was his first in the league for Palace. He said: “It was a good performance. First and second half we reacted well. A dominant performance, but we were clinical in the second half.
“It was nice to win at home and put that losing run to bed. The mood is buzzing – the music is bouncing and everyone is happy.”
