Aston Villa 1-1 Crystal Palace: Substitute Jeffrey Schlupp earns Eagles point
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Crystal Palace became the 18th club to reach 500 Premier League games
Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard called on his side to be "more ruthless and clinical" after substitute Jeffrey Schlupp earned Crystal Palace a Premier League point at Villa Park.
Schlupp had been on the pitch less than four minutes when he slotted in from Marc Guehi's knock-down in the aftermath of a free-kick with nine minutes remaining.
Striker Ollie Watkins, a doubt for the game after sustaining an ankle injury against Liverpool in midweek, had beaten Guehi to Lucas Digne's cross after 69 minutes to put the hosts ahead with his first attempt.
"We're a little bit frustrated," Gerrard said. "It was a good battle. With the chances we created, you expect to score more than one goal. We've conceded naively on a set play so we have ourselves to blame."
The Villa boss added: "We need to be more ruthless and clinical. We are creating good chances and we're playing really well but we are conceding stupid goals.
"There are a lot of areas we need to improve and I am sure we will be a lot better come next season."
Danny Ings twice went close inside the opening eight minutes for Villa, shooting wide following a darting run to the near post, and volleying over from Joachim Andersen's attempted clearance.
Palace offered a positive response, but Wilfried Zaha's stinging strike was parried by Emiliano Martinez and the Villa goalkeeper was also equal to Nathaniel Clyne's low effort.
Despite a late flurry of chances, with Watkins firing wide in added time, neither side could find a winner to improve their chances of securing a top-half finish.
Palace dropped down one place to 12th following Brentford's victory over Everton, three points behind 10th-placed Brighton, with Villa still one place and one point behind the Eagles.
Villa and Palace unable to improve top-half chances
Aston Villa 1-1 Crystal Palace: Villa must be 'more ruthless and clinical' - Gerrard
Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira challenged his side to clinch a top-half finish and end a pleasing first season under his tenure - which also included a run to the FA Cup semi-finals - on a positive note.
The Eagles are unbeaten in four matches following this draw and require four points from their final two games to match their highest Premier League points tally of 49, achieved in 1992-93 and 2018-19.
Likewise, Steven Gerrard's Villa are chasing a first top-10 placing in the Premier League since 2010-11, but those hopes have taken a blow heading into their final two games.
The hosts were unable to capitalise on an encouraging start, as Ings failed to hit the target with three decent first-half chances - also curling wide after being teed up by strike partner Watkins.
It was Martinez who was the busier goalkeeper, but the Argentine was alert to well-struck attempts by Zaha and Clyne.
Aston Villa 1-1 Crystal Palace: Patrick Vieira 'happy' with a point at Villa
A largely uneventful start to the second half saw Matthew Cash flash an uncontested ball across the six yard box, while the Villa right-back was required to block Tyrick Mitchell's strike shortly before Watkins' opener.
Palace felt aggrieved that Watkins was not penalised for a foul on Guehi as the pair battled for Digne's cross, but Schlupp's near-immediate impact ensured Vieira's side did not depart empty-handed after an even encounter.
"I'm really happy with the performance," Vieira said. "It wasn't easy to concede that goal and we didn't deserve to concede that goal."
The Palace boss added: "We showed quality and character to fight and to find the strength to get back in the game and score."
Philippe Coutinho, who failed to shine following confirmation of his permanent move from Barcelona this week, was among several players to see late efforts blocked by committed defending at both ends.
Villa now host relegation-threatened Burnley on Thursday and title-chasing Manchester City on the final day, while Palace travel to Everton before hosting Manchester United next Sunday.
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