Duran brings Villa’s Champions League dream to life with a late double

Remarkably, it is now five games without a win for Unai Emery’s side in all competitions – two Premier League draws, a defeat and defeat in both legs of the Europa Conference League semi-finals.

But if they finish in the top four, it will be a magnificent campaign for them, securing their involvement in the European Cup for the first time since 1983 – the year before Hanks burst onto the scene with the mermaid flick ‘Splash’. Emery has certainly made a splash at this club.

For once the story wasn’t about Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp in what was the manager’s penultimate game in charge. Of course, there was something sincere in the way he went through to appreciate Liverpool’s away fans and the tide of emotions is already building for Sunday’s big farewell at Anfield.

In 1983, Klopp had just been picked up as a youth team player with TuS Ergenzingen, 15 miles from his hometown of Glatten in the Black Forest, and no one could predict the impact he would have as a coach.

For Villa, Emery takes on similar messianic value and whatever Spurs do, even if they beat City and triumph away at Sheffield United, and barring a flurry of unanswered goals, his side will be fourth if they avoid defeat at Crystal Palace. Their goal difference is eight better.

One complication is that Palace are playing wonderfully well, but Villa will think they are there. Or almost there. But they’ll also be kicking themselves for not doing their job here in front of their own supporters. They had opportunities but also made stupid mistakes.

The home fans didn’t leave immediately after the game and I certainly think the players and Emery came back for a lap of appreciation. Flags were waved and the atmosphere was triumphant, with Emery shouting “Up Villa!” into the microphone. How they’ll desperately hope it’s not premature.

If it is, then there will be two incidents from the first half that will haunt them. The stadium announcer hailed Emiliano Martinez as the ‘number one in the world’, there was a carnival feel inside Villa Park, the home players took to the pitch with their children – and then, after just 61 seconds, it was a goal down.

And it was down to a terrible, terrible error from Martinez, who cleared Harvey Elliott’s deflected cross into his own net. He almost knocked her over the line. Saying it was diverted makes it sound like the kind of change in direction that elicits an apology or offers some mitigation was needed. No, he just put Pau Torres away and the look on Martinez’s face said it all.