Jhon Duran’s anger explained and what Monchi did to Lander Emery as Aston Villa defeated

Jean-Philippe Mateta bagged two goals in the first period, before he completed his hat-trick in the second half either side of goals by Eberechi Eze. Villa had already reached their goal of securing Champions League football earlier in the week and found it hard to get up for what was essentially a dead rubber in the context of their season.

Emery was without a number of first-team players, including Emi Martinez, Leon Bailey, Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers, Nicolo Zaniolo and Matty Cash, plus longer-term absentees Tyrone Mings, Emi Buendia, Jacob Ramsey and Boubacar Kamara. It’s a staggering list.

EMERY: VILLA’S SEASON FINISHED ON TUESDAY

Emery couldn’t find it within himself to be negative or critical of his players after full-time considering they had already secured their top four status and were a long way from full strength.

“When you lose 5-0 you are disappointed, and maybe a little bit embarrassed by the result,” the Villa boss told BBC Sport. “Today, we were not 100% with our power we have showed all season, and of course we did everything on Monday against Liverpool at home.

“We finished in our mind on Tuesday when we achieved our target for the season, and today we tried to have a good finish to the season but we did not play with consistency.

“It was a difficult match because they are playing very well, and secondly because we had finished in our minds the season when we achieved the result last Tuesday. We tried to compete and be organised like we have all season, but we have to accept how we have finished and how we achieved our objective last Tuesday.”

Asked if he will take a well-earned break, Emery said: “Yes, I need it, but I need to analyse deeply, with time, and also to enjoy the rest because the season was really tough.

“We achieved a lot but we demanded a lot of the players, so we have to rest and prepare professionally but also take time on decisions.”

EMERY’S SON GETS CALL-UP

Among the several youngsters who were named in Villa’s squad to face Palace was Emery’s son, Lander. The 21-year-old goalkeeper travelled with the first-team squad for the first time since joining the club earlier this season.

He has made six Premier League 2 appearances this term and played his part in the academy’s Birmingham Senior Cup triumph as he saved two penalties in a shoot-out win over Lye Town in the quarter-finals.

It was a surprise to see Emery with the squad when they hopped off the bus and headed towards the dressing room. As the youngster turned the corner on his way to the dressing room, Monchi gave him a big hug and said a few words before he got ready to warm-up with Robin Olsen and Joe Gauci. Despite the result, it would have been a brilliant experience for him.

DURAN CUTS FRUSTRATED FIGURE

Villa did put up a fight in the first 30 minutes of the game and should have been at least level before Mateta doubled the hosts’ advantage. Moussa Diaby had a brilliant chance to level the match after Luiz picked him out before he missed a one-on-one.

Diaby then squandered another chance from the resulting corner, before Ollie Watkins’ header was cleared off the line moments after. Watkins was desperate to score at Selhurst Park to find that goal to take his tally to 20, which would have made him the first Villa player to bag more than 19 in a Premier League season.

On the cusp of half-time, Watkins had Jhon Duran in support as Palace were caught short at the back. He chose to drag the ball towards the left in an attempt to create an angle to get a shot off instead of using the 20-year-old.

Duran was angry with Watkins’ decision to ignore him and showed his frustration by throwing his arms and then failing to make a run in the box once Watkins moved back into position to possibly cross the ball. After the half-time whistle blew, Duran stood still looking at Watkins, but the England international put his hands up questioning why his strike partner was upset. Duran then pointed towards the box gesturing that he should’ve received the ball, before he trudged down the tunnel.

It was only the second time in which Watkins has partnered Duran from the off this season, but just like in the draw with West Ham, the two centre-forwards didn’t strike up a particularly promising connection. It means that if Duran remains at Villa this summer, he will have to prepare for more opportunities from off the bench rather than from the start in the league or in the Champions League.