Ismailia Saar's brace was amongst the four goals in a special Selhurst night, as Aston Villa were handed their sixth away loss in the last seven games against Crystal Palace in devastating fashion.
The Eagles have suffered from a mediocre spell at home, having only picked up 11 points compared to their formidable 24 on the road, and Glasner's side were keen to improve on their two league wins at Selhurst.
A varied Villa side that saw four changes from their win over Chelsea last weekend held the ball for the opening exchanges, with McGinn's early midfield drives being cut out by Munoz, a player credited by Glasner as an eye-catching ‘prototype.’
But at the thirty-minute mark, a whipped pass from an in-form Eze was put into a scrambled box of red, white and blue, where Villa were unable to properly clear their lines, which resulted in a returning Wharton sending the ball back in from an initial clearance where Martinez's sub-par save was followed back in by a clinical Saar.
Glasner had previously described his development with his side as a journey through “tough times”, and having gone against the run of play, it looked like they were close to their destination thanks to Saar's fifth of the season.
In an entertaining midfield battle, Hughes put in his fourth foul of the night against McGinn for his tenth yellow card of the season, which’ll see him miss the next two games.
Despite it being their 3rd game in 5 days, Villa were determined not to continue their winless run in the capital, as the Watkins-Rodgers combination was in perfect harmony, with the striker getting onto his teammates ball after being forced wide, before sending it back in for Rodgers to put away comfortably.
But offside woes continued, as a lengthy look from VAR decided it wouldn’t count once again, Watkin's knee being the culprit this time.
Onto the second half, and Palace would feel as though they were good value for the lead. However, fans were bemused as backup Villa keeper Olsen was seen warming up at half-time, a disruption to Palaces usual halftime penalty shootout show with young supporters, but the Swede suited up to replace Martinez just before the restart along with Bailey for Garcia. A potentially big blow for the away side.
It started strong for Palace, with chances from Eze including a dangerous free kick from about 20 yards out after an unusual McGinn mistake, where his curled effort was seen out of play.
Not two minutes later, and it was another shock goal that started from the other end. Olsen's long kick is headed by Watkins into the path of Rodgers, who holds off half of Palaces backline to fire a clinical finish into the bottom corner. In front of new England coach Thomas Tuchel as well, his application for the upcoming international fixtures.
Celebrations didn’t last long, as Palace quickly got back to business. Wharton zipped a pass to Eze, who’s cute touch teed up Mateta, where the man who’s most goal involvements have come up against the Villans, was able to rifle his side back in front.
The despairs continued for Villa, as too did Saar's jubilations. Munoz cuts back a bobbling ball to find the Senegalese, who strikes on the volley in what had turned out to be a huge night for the Eagles.
It would be a tough take for Villa, who were keen to hear the final whistle, but not before the long-awaiting Nketiah netted his first goal in a Palace shirt. Lovely combination from Kamada drew out Mitchell to the touchline, where the wing-back slotted across the face of goal for the former Arsenal striker to seal the night.
Emery had labelled the side as “difficult to stop” ahead of the game, but they now sit in 12th place, just two spots behind the Champions League chasing away side.