Crystal Palace held Aston Villa to a goalless draw in front of Alan Pardew at Villa Park this afternoon.

Pardew, who is heavily tipped to take charge of the Eagles, watched on as his potential charges secured another point in their survival bid.

Villa had the best of the openings but Palace ultimately held on for their second successive 0-0 draw under caretaker boss Keith Millen.

Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the stalemate in the West Midlands.

Match statistics

ASTON VILLA
Shots: 10
On target: 3
Possession: 69%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 12

CRYSTAL PALACE
Shots: 4
On target: 0
Possession: 31%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 11

Was the result fair?

Undoubtedly. Both sides had chances, but overall neither of them did anywhere near enough to win this game. It needed a moment of real quality to be settled, and in the end neither team boasted enough firepower in the final third to warrant the three points.

Aston Villa's performance

Villa started off really well, with Christian Benteke and Alan Hutton forcing Palace keeper Julian Speroni into a couple of smart saves early on, but they failed to build on these chances in a first half that saw them create precious little else in front of goal.

Did things improve in the second half? Not really, no. For all their possession, they never looked like getting the goal that would have settled this one, with Benteke continuing to blow hot and cold in front of goal, while Gabriel Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann offered little by way of service in the Belgian's defence.

It was a match that Villa really needed to win to put distance between themselves and the relegation zone - they're five points clear as it stands - with tricky fixtures against Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea on the horizon. Overall it was just not good enough and not the way that Paul Lambert would have wanted to kick off the New Year.

Crystal Palace's performance

In front of Alan Pardew ahead of his imminent appointment, this would have been viewed as an audition of sorts by a number of Palace players, but only Speroni managed to enhance his reputation in front of his future manager by pulling off a few good saves to prevent the Eagles from falling behind in the early stages.

Pardew would have also raised an eyebrow at the forward quality that he is poised to inherit, with Yannick Bolasie spurning undoubtedly the best chance of the game by missing a one-on-one with Brad Guzan. It was the first and last real opportunity that the visitors had and, worryingly for the Londoners, it came on 16 minutes.

They did, to their credit, defend well at times, because Villa's three-pronged attack of Benteke, Agbonlahor and Weimann were not ineffective by choice, but away to Villa - by far the lowest goalscoring team in the Premier League this season - was hardly a big test for them. Pardew will have his hands full.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Ciaran Clark: In a game of such little quality in the final third, it was always going to be a defender that took the plaudits, and it was undoubtedly Clark today.

The Republic of Ireland international replaced the injured Ron Vlaar after just 13 minutes, but he minimised the effects of losing the imposing Dutchman by producing a fine defensive performance - along with a number of goal-saving interventions.

Biggest gaffe

It has to be Bolasie, who caught Leandro Bacuna in possession before racing clear of the Villa defence and setting up a one-on-one with Guzan. However, the winger fluffed his lines in front of goal and saw what should have been a routine finish cannon off the crossbar on 16 minutes. It was a moment that underlined Palace's need for a tried and tested striker, with Wilfried Zaha also flattering to deceive in a centre-forward role, too.

Referee performance

Very quiet day at the office for Robert Madely, who only booked two players - Clark and Damien Delaney - the first of which came after 78 minutes.

What next?

Aston Villa: Lambert's side are back here on Sunday for the visit of Blackpool in the FA Cup.

Crystal Palace: The Londoners will also turn their attentions toward the FA Cup as they travel away to Dover on Sunday.