Having snapped their five-game winless run in the PL last time out against Chelsea, Unai Emery’s side started brightly in South London, with Youri Tielemans glancing a close-range header wastefully wide of the target.
Palace gradually grew into the contest after a disjointed opening 20 minutes, and their improvement was duly rewarded with a breakthrough when Emiliano Martínez parried Chris Richards’ header into the path of Ismaïla Sarr, who marked his 27th birthday with a simple tap-in.
Armed with the momentum, the hosts went in pursuit of a quickfire second, but Martínez stood firm in the visitors’ goal to deny Sarr while Jean-Philippe Mateta dragged a glorious opening wide of the far post.
Grateful for those reprieves, Villa thought they’d drawn level with HT approaching, only for Morgan Rogers’ well-taken finish to be ruled out for a marginal offside against Ollie Watkins in the build-up.
Undeterred, the visitors came flying out the blocks at the start of the second half and found a deserved leveller within seven minutes, as a brilliant flicked header from Watkins released Rogers, who swivelled in the box to fire clinically into the bottom corner.
Nevertheless, that sparked the Eagles back into life, and Oliver Glasner’s men restored their lead just eight minutes later, with Mateta picking up a loose ball on the edge of the box and powering a superb finish beyond substitute keeper Robin Olsen for his 12th PL goal of the season.
As time ticked into the final 25 minutes, chances continued to flow at both ends of the pitch, with Ezri Konsa directing a header agonisingly against the bar.
That near-miss proved to be crucial, as Palace extended their lead in the 71st minute when Daniel Munoz’s delivery was volleyed into the corner by Sarr for his second of the evening.
Faced with a two-goal deficit, Villa desperately searched for a route back into the match but it was the hosts who added a fourth in stoppage time as Eddie Nketiah tapped home his first PL goal for the club, inflicting a seventh away defeat in nine league games for Emery’s men.
The results leaves Villa four points adrift of the top four, while Palace sit 12th and only six points adrift of tonight's opponents.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ismaïla Sarr (Crystal Palace)