Steven Gerrard maintained his 100% record in charge of Aston Villa with a 2-1 away win at Crystal Palace.

A first-half goal from Matt Targett was backed up in the final five minutes by John McGinn who curled a left-footed effort into the corner.

Marc Guehi’s stoppage-time strike gave the Eagles a glimmer of hope, but time was against the hosts.

The visitors were handed a reprieve midway through the second half after Douglas Luiz had initially been shown a straight red card for a challenge on Cheikhou Kouyate. But after a review of the pitch-side monitor, referee Michael Salisbury changed his decision.

The former Rangers boss was delighted to earn a second successive win, but knows there is a long way still to go.

He said: "We can't get carried away, it has been a positive couple of weeks.

"The players have been fantastic in their application, we had to dig in at times today but we managed to get over the line which is nice. 

"There was great work before we came in, Dean Smith had done an impressive job before and the performances in the five games before probably didn't warrant five defeats. 

"We've had to put a lot of information across in a short of period of time and there are still little tweaks to make. 

"We have got an impressive set-piece specialist at Aston Villa and his job is to identify weaknesses in the opposition side, the players deserve all the credit for going and implementing that goal."

Did you know?

Patrick Vieira’s side lost for the first time in their last eight Premier League games (two wins, five draws), their last being a 3-0 away loss at Liverpool in September.

Gerrard is only the second Villa manager to win his first two Premier League games in charge, matching John Gregory's start in March 1998.

Guehi has scored in each of his last two games after failing to score in any of his previous 73 appearances in all competitions with the Eagles, Swansea and Chelsea.

After 12 appearances this season, McGinn has netted three goals, equalling his best goal tally for a full Premier League season.

Ashley Young has now provided more assists for the Villans than any other player in Premier League history (42, one ahead of Gareth Barry).