Aston Villa and Crystal Palace are locked at 0-0 after a goalless first half at Villa Park.

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.

© Getty Images

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.