Steven Gerrard had the edge over Patrick Vieira as a player. It has continued in Premier League management.
In this first touchline tussle of the two top-flight greats, Gerrard came out on top to continue his winning start in charge of Villa.
Seven times he got the better of Vieira when they met as player, the Frenchman victorious in just three of their 13 meetings.
John McGinn scored Aston Villa's second goal in the 2-1 win away at Crystal Palace
A rare goal from Matt Targett and sumptuous second from John McGinn made it 1-0 to Gerrard against Vieira now they have moved on to become bosses.
Until McGinn sealed the three points with four minutes left, this game had nothing like the quality the two managers possessed in their playing pomp.
Though Gerrard would not have worried about that.
A second three points to go with his debut win against Brighton would have been his sole priority and Villa claimed them to draw level on 13 points with Palace.
Matt Targett put Villa ahead with his first goal of the season just 15 minutes into the game
The defender's previous two Premier League goals had both come at Villa Park
McGinn’s goal capped a frustrating afternoon for Palace when nothing went right, they shipped from a set-piece again, lost at home for the first time this season, saw their seven-game unbeaten run ended and Vieira tasted defeat at home to Villa for the first time, having never lost a Premier League home game against them as a player.
In a strange quirk, Gerrard had also never won at Selhurst Park during his playing days. That too is no longer the case.
Villa’s first effort on goal was not an encouraging sign of what was perhaps to come.
As the two teams
