Barkley rescues point for Champions League chasers but Henderson is penalty hero

ROSS BARKLEY came to the rescue with a stunning header to rescue a point for Villa and easily repay the five million pounds Unai Emery invested in him this summer.

Luton Town's bargain signing has now earned his boss two crucial points in his last two games against Bournemouth and Palace.

Incredibly, without the 30-year-old's goals, the Spaniard would have suffered SIX consecutive defeats for the first time in his star-studded career!

But in the end a draw was a fair result as Emi Martinez denied Palace with a stunning save and denied Jeff Schlupp a late winner.

Emery was certainly excited about this as he wanted to kick-start Villa's stuttering season – it's just a shame his players took so long to get the memo!

The Villa manager must have been thinking about revenge when he started this.

Not only did the Eagles beat his side 5-0 on the final day of last season after Emery had guided Villa to the Champions League.

They also knocked the Villans out of the Carabao Cup at Villa Park last month.

Emery had suffered four defeats on the spin for the first time in 1026 games as manager – a fifth was simply unthinkable for the demanding Spaniard.

Yet his players shot themselves in the foot when they conceded after just four minutes.

Palace ruthlessly exposed their high defensive line when Jean-Philippe Mateta's early through ball sent Ismaila Sarr racing towards goal.

The Senegal forward held off Ian Maatsen before firing past Emi Martinez to open his Premier League account for the Eagles.

Villa tried to respond but was wasteful.

New England cap Morgan Rogers fired a shot wide, Ollie Watkins nodded and then failed to get his head into Maatsen's brilliant cross.

Palace were under pressure but had Dean Henderson to thank for some brilliant moments in the first half.

Just before the half hour mark the 'keeper produced a stunning stop to deny Watkins.

The Villa forward cut inside Trevoh Chalobah and fired in a low drive that appeared to have beaten Henderson as he raced past him.

But somehow the England goalkeeper reached out with his right arm to claw the ball from behind him, away from his gaping net.

Five minutes later, Palace broke through Villa's lines again.

Sarr sprinted clear and pulled Martinez off his line before heading towards Mateta, who somehow lifted his shot over an open goal from six yards.

Much to the striker's relief, Sarr had strayed just offside in the build-up to spare his blushes.

After Villa survived that lucky escape, things settled down.

Pau Torres produced a brilliant pass to split the lines and pick out McGinn, who then added an even better through ball to send Watkins clear.

The England striker calmly rounded Henderson and passed into an empty net to end his barren five-match streak.

Villa's tails were up and Bailey left the bar wincing with a rocket shot that bounced to safety as Henderson was beaten.

The Jamaican was then involved in a bizarre incident when he tumbled into the Palace box before the game raged to the other end.

However, when the ball finally went out of bounds, VAR Alex Chilowicz drew referee Tim Robinson's attention to a foul by Will Hughes, who had stepped on Bailey's heel, causing him to crash.

After checking the field monitor, Robinson pointed to the spot.

But Henderson threw himself to the left and brilliantly saved Youri Tielemans' penalty.

And on the stroke of half-time, Palace delivered another punch to Villa's ribs.

Sarr again raced out of Villa's defense before being forced wide.

But the striker managed to round Mateta and pick out Justin Devenny at the back of the penalty area.

And the young Northern Ireland international turned a shot around Tielemans and found the far corner of the net.

It was a stunning way for the young Scottish-born midfielder to cap his Premier League steal in his second start for Palace.

However, Villa, with Matty Cash in for Bogarde, came out firing after the break.

Emery went for a broke send on Jhon Duran and Lucas Digne for McGinn and Maatsen.

But it was the 30-year-old Barkley who managed to save a point for his team.

Tielemans cleared a corner from the left and Barkley rose between Marc Guehi and Jeff Schlupp to send a header into the far corner.

However, it took a brilliant stop from Emi Martinez, who pushed a Schlupp thunderbolt onto his far post, to prevent Palace from taking all three points.