Saturday felt like a breakthrough afternoon for Ismaila Sarr in a Crystal Palace shirt.
A first Palace goal, as well as an assist, capped a man-of-the-match performance as the Eagles earned a hard-fought 2-2 draw away to Aston Villa.
Before his decisive 90-minute display at a rain-swept Villa Park, Sarr had played only 479 of a possible 990 minutes in the Premier League this season, less than 50 per cent of the game time available to him since joining from Marseille in the summer.
But injuries Eberechi Eze and Eddie Nketiah - and Daichi Kamada’s suspension - left Oliver Glasner short of options in attack.
That paved the way for 21-year-old Justin Devenny to make an impact by scoring his first Palace goal, but also for Sarr to stake a claim for more action.
Sarr received Jean-Philippe Mateta’s through-ball and darted through before slotting calmly past Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez to give Palace a fourth-minute lead. He then broke free in first-half injury time and squared for Devenny to caress home.
“I think it was Ismaila Sarr’s best performance for us,” said Glasner.
Sarr gradually became Watford’s finest player in four successful years with the Hornets between 2019 and 2023. Yet Palace had always been keen on the player, and had first started tracking him when he was still playing in France for Rennes.
The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations winner scored for Senegal at the 2022 World Cup while still at Watford, before joining Marseille last summer.
It proved to be a difficult season, and this summer he moved to Selhurst Park for the relatively risk-free price of £12.7million.
Palace signed him as a utility player. He is 26 years old so has plenty of years still ahead of him, and is able to play anywhere across the front three or even as a wing-back, particularly helpful in Glasner’s favoured 3-4-2-1 set-up.
It is his functionality that partly explains why he has not played more until now, with Glasner having something close to a settled first XI, of which Sarr is not a part, when everyone is fit. Crucially, right now they are not.
Sarr could therefore be a key player until others are back, and he will have gained immense confidence in what he can achieve with Palace after his decisive contribution at Villa Park.
“I'm working for the team, for the club, and the fans who come to every game,” he said afterwards. “I'm working hard on the training ground. I'm not going to stop now.”
That will please Glasner greatly. The summer may have weakened Palace’s attacking options, but Sarr is showing himself to be a welcome addition.
