YES! A third straight victory in the Premier League - something Palace have not achieved since 1994 - was well deserved as the Eagles moved up to 12th place in the Premier League. Here's Mark Gardiner with his ratings and reviews from the match. 
It wasn’t the best of games, with Palace working hard while Aston Villa lacked any real ambition, and the refereeing was of an even lower standard, but today could have seen Palace finally survive a season in the Premiership / Premier League. This, of course, is the Sky Sports age so we’ll forget our previous seven seasons in the top flight that didn’t end in relegation...
Palace, with Moody’s phone possibly impounded and lacking intelligence on the Villains line-up, decided on an unchanged starting XI in the usual positions, and as the game started took up a deep & conservative stance. The possession stats for the first 15 minutes must be horribly lop-sided but Villa managed precisely nothing with all the ball, while on the rare occasions Palace gained possession their attacks had a far sharper threat. Puncheon had already tried an ambitious far post volley by the time KG departed with an injury, necessitating a swap as Chamakh went into the hole and Ledley moved alongside Jedinak in the centre. This move helped Palace’s attacking ambitions but made life a little easier for Villa as Jedinak wasn’t really at the races at this stage, and the visitors nearly seized an opening when, after a series of Villa corners, Clark’s header was kicked clear of the far post by Jerome. After that the chances started to fall Palace’s way, with Bolasie having a couple of decent efforts with boot & head while Chamakh’s far post header was just wide. The best chance came when a very clever free kick routine played Bolasie in by the corner of the six-yard box; he appeared to miss his kick and slip over, but from my angle I couldn’t tell if Holt had anything to do with that by nefarious means.
Having ended the first half on top it was strange to report that Palace barely started in the second half, with possession conceded far too easily, especially down the right with Mariappa, Puncheon and Jedinak guilty. Fortunately Villa lacked any cutting edge and didn’t take advantage of this slow start. Jerome & Bolasie began causing problems, and when the latter fired in a shot Guzman’s careless-looking save saw the ball drop to Jerome, but with the goal at his mercy he struck the underside of the bar and the ball bounced away to safety. Palace gradually took control, with Jedinak improving and the reliable Ledley one of the better performers. The main threat continued to be from Bolasie down the left where he was well supported by Ward, and he created a couple of chances for himself. Puncheon too came back into the game and it looked like he might have engineered an opening when referee Webb looked to have awarded a penalty when a defender might have handled a Puncheon cross, only to change his mind after consulting with the (admittedly better placed) linesman. One can only assume Webb is our World Cup referee on the basis that at least he will be upsetting foreigners for the summer.
Fittingly it was the two wingers who combined for the only goal, Bolasie’s cross from the goal line finding Puncheon around the far post; after taking what seemed like an age to control the ball, Jason’s shot went back across Guzman and in off the far post. Bolasie departed not long after, replaced by Parr in what was a surprising decision given the pressure Yannick had exerted all game on Villa’s right flank; perhaps the little limp was disappointment & diplomatic. Playing on the break Palace really should have made the game safe, the best chance came when Puncheon, with Murray & Parr free in the box, shot from a tight angle and hit the outside of the near post. That could have proven costly as Speroni, keeping commendably alert on another less than busy afternoon, made another fine save from a Weimann close range shot, diving and extending his arm to turn the ball behind. Palace started to defend deep and there was more than a hint of panic about some clearances as Villa finally found some gumption far too late in the game. It has to be said that Villa were particularly poor in both approach & execution most of the game, one cross field pass over hit by some 40 yards, and at the end their large & loud support gave their players some awful stick. But who cares!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_xj6jIiqUg
Ratings:
Speroni – 7 – Hardly a save to make for an hour, and then those he did make were generally routine, with the exception of another full-length effort to deny Weimann from close range. I think we’ve underrated Julian this season as we are so used to his quality by now, the match- or point-winning save expected.
Mariappa – 5 – Thought Adrian didn’t reach the quality of performances he’s produced of late with some particularly careless passing and some less than solid challenges, especially in the first half, and didn’t really improve until the last 30 minutes.
Ward – 7 – Solid in defence and helped Bolasie a lot on the attack.
Delaney – 8 – Another quiet contender for Player of the Year with a couple of vital tackles. Looked to be beaten once by Holt to set up Weimann’s chance but otherwise kept a lid on Villa’s admittedly toothless attack. Lovely through ball to Jerome in the first half.
Dann – 8 – Quietly impressive, forming a very solid pairing with Delaney, with again a few important tackles and clearances.
Dikgacoi – 6 – Short time on pitch marked by a couple apiece of tough challenges and awful passes.
Jedinak – 6 – I thought it took Mile some time to get into the flow of both halves, marked by some less than shuddering challenges and a greater number of poor passes than usual, and sitting deeper than I’d like. When he did hit his stride Palace dominated the middle and looked a far better team, marked by some lovely passes. At the end added weight to the defence in repelling Villa’s late charge.
Ledley – 7 – Another good professional performance from Joe, the only downside a little lack of pace. Held it together when KG departed & Jedinak wasn’t on top of his game.
Puncheon – 7 – Good showing bar a strange 10-15 minutes after half time when his lax approach was a real danger in defence. First half was the main outlet for the first 20 minutes, creating chances. Second half less obvious but still scored a vital goal and hit the post.
Bolasie- 8 – Excellent performance from Yannick who terrorised Villa’s right back position either side of half time, although I’m sure he could have done better with that free kick move when he appeared to mis-kick (look forward to the replay). Created openings for Jerome, which was spurned, and Puncheon, which was accepted gratefully. Didn’t understand the substitution unless he really was injured.
Jerome – 6 – Ran his heart out and didn’t allow Villa’s defence a moment’s peace, but missed a really great chance after Guzman’s less than impressive save left him virtually a free shot on goal from reasonably close-range.
Subs:
Chamakh – 7 – Improved Palace’s attacking play with his ability to hold up the ball and nearly scored with a fine far post header. Also proved useful once again in defending set pieces.
Murray – 6 – Came on just before Palace went 1-0 up and had a couple of nice moments but still looks a little short of pace.
Parr – 6 – Looked like a defensive substitution by Pulis but it worked out fine.