Aston Villa and Crystal Palace have drawn 0-0 in their New Year's Day game at Villa Park this afternoon.

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The hosts were the better side in the early stages, with Christian Benteke forcing Julian Speroni into a good save before Gabriel Agbonlahor fired over the bar from inside the box.

Speroni then spread himself to save from Alan Hutton at the far post but Palace threatened on the break, and Yannick Bolasie came within inches of opening the scoring as his shot ricocheted off the underside of the crossbar.

Leandro Bacuna then fizzed a 30-yard free kick onto the roof of the net before Jason Puncheon curled an effort over the bar in a lively opening half.

Benteke crashed a strong effort narrowly wide 10 minutes into the second half but the Villans had Aly Cissokho to thank as he made a last-ditch tackle to deny James McArthur.

Benteke was presented with another opportunity 15 minutes from time, but spooned his effort over the bar when well placed in a poor second half showing from both sides as the game fizzled out into a draw.