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MARC Guehi struck a blow for the good guys as he left Eagles’ boss Oliver Glasner with something to remember him by.

The Palace captain may be moving to pastures new inside the next 24 hours if his proposed move to Liverpool gets the green light.

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But his farewell present was a curling shot that underlined the star quality the Reds are paying for as Unai Emery’s chaotic summer imploded at Villa Park.

Guehi struck Palace’s second goal, building on Jean-Philippe Mateta’s first-half penalty on a night to forget for Villa’s boss.

And Ismaila Sarr rubbed salt into very open wounds by adding a third 12 minutes from time, nodding home after the hosts’ defence had followed the example of keeper Emi Martinez – and gone AWOL.

The Argentinian was left out because his mind was “elsewhere”.

The two-time winner of the world’s best keeper award was nowhere to be seen – apparently his mind was unable to cope with the prospect of a potential move away from Villa Park with Manchester United mulling over an offer.

He was declared unfit to play. And that went too for Emery’s side who spent a large chunk of this going around in circles.

Not so Guehi who may have a money-spinning switch to the champs in the offing.

His name was sung loud and proud by the visiting supporters who were appreciative of his professionalism.

And he had the benefit of celebrating in front of them as Villa’s proud unbeaten record was shattered.

Before tonight, Emery’s side were unbeaten on their own patch in the Premier League over the past 12 months.

But Palace are Villa’s bogey side – and they had a field day.

Glasner’s men have held the upper hand against Villa recently, winning four and drawing one of their last five encounters, including in the FA Cup semi-final four months ago.

As if to hammer home the point, the visiting contingent reminded the hosts of that 3-0 defeat, taunting them with “Did you cry at Wembley?” within seconds of the game getting underway.

By that stage, Villa’s stadium announcer had put a red line through his usual pre-match script which involved introducing the “world’s best” keeper Martinez to the home crowd.

Emery also mumbled his way through a pre-match television interview in which, when quizzed about the Argentinian’s absence, merely repeated the name of the Argentinian’s replacement, saying: “Marco Bizot, Marco Bizot.”

It was a bizarre reply to a fair question. Villa’s boss confirmed last Friday that he “didn’t expect” any of his main stars to leave the club.

It was almost as if any late interest had completely thrown the Spaniard – knocked him out of his stride. Palace then did the same to his team out on the green stuff.

Despite the excitement of a trip to Norway to face Fredrikstad in the Conference League on Thursday evening, Palace came with a game plan that stifled Villa at every turn.

The Eagles looked polished and took a 21st-minute lead when Mateta pulled away from Villa’s two centre-backs to receive a ball from Tyrick Mitchell on the left flank.

The Frenchman spotted Daichi Kamada making a run and threaded a pass into him.

The Japan international pushed the ball past Bizot whose outstretched leg clipped him. Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot.

The Dutch keeper couldn’t stop himself moving as Mateta dithered during his run-up and the Frenchman rolled the ball into the net.

Emery chose to blood Evann Guessand, a £26million signing from Nice, from the start. He showed some nice touches but it was the evergreen Ollie Watkins who posed the greatest threat.

The England international made something out of nothing when John McGinn simply booted the ball down the middle of the pitch, Dean Henderson standing up well to the striker’s shot.

Emery chose to shake it up at the interval. By that stage, Villa were yet to find the net and it was to another Argentinian – a forgotten one – that he turned.

Emi Buendia sparked a response – but it was all huff, puff and no end product.

Guehi then showed them how to do it as Villa failed to clear a Mitchell cross.

Palace moved forward on the left and Guehi took aim with a stunning effort that left Bizot grasping at thin air.

Sarr then sealed the points with a close-range header following a long throw allowing the visiting skipper to leave on a high.

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Kylian Mbappe was among the scorers as the French forward continues comeback in Real Madrid’s 3-2 win against Dortmund.

Kylian Mbappe’s spectacular bicycle kick was among three goals in the second-half stoppage time, as Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in a Club World Cup quarterfinal match.

The drama was not restricted to the late goals, with Real keeper Thibaut Courtois using his fingertips to palm away the potential levelling goal from the game’s final play.

Gonzalo Garcia and Fran García scored in the first 20 minutes as Madrid built a 2-0 lead.

Dortmund’s Maximilian Beier scored three minutes into stoppage time, and Mbappe, who entered in the 67th, restored a two-goal lead with his bicycle kick one minute later.

Serhou Guirassy converted a penalty kick in the eighth minute of added time after he was fouled by Dean Huijsen, who received a red card and will miss the semifinals.

Courtois used all of the lengthy arm on his 200cm (6ft 7in) frame to tip away Marcel Sabitzer’s shot just before the final whistle.

Madrid advanced to a semifinal match against Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, a day after Chelsea meets Brazilian club Fluminense.

On a sunny afternoon, in 30 degrees Celsius (86 F) at the 3pm kickoff, Gonzalo Garcia scored in the 10th minute and Fran Garcia in the 20th.

Garcia, a 21-year-old who made only five Spanish league appearances in the past two seasons, was given the start by new Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso over Mbappe, who is still regaining fitness after acute gastroenteritis.

Garcia has four goals, tying Benfica’s Angel Di María and Al Hilal’s Marcos Leonardo for the tournament lead.

Mbappe came on for Jude Bellingham, who missed a chance to play against his brother, Jobe, who was suspended for yellow-card accumulation.

Madrid beat Dortmund 2-0 in the 2024 Champions League final and overcame a two-goal halftime deficit in a 5-2 victory in this season’s league phase. Los Blancos were eliminated by Arsenal in this year’s Champions League quarterfinals.

Madrid has won five consecutive games against Dortmund and is unbeaten in seven since a 2014 Champions League quarterfinal defeat.

American midfielder Gio Reyna did not get off the bench and finished the tournament with one 13-minute appearance for Dortmund in five matches.

This game drew 76,611 fans to MetLife Stadium, the site of next year’s World Cup final. Seats looked filled, except for a completely empty suite level on one side.

There was a moment of silence before kickoff for Liverpool’s Diogo Jota and his brother, Penafiel’s Andre Silva, who died in a car crash on Thursday.

A visit to Los Angeles by Vice President George Bush has pulled in more than $500,000 for his 1988 presidential campaign. But perhaps even more important to Bush, the visit finally gave him a chance to hit his stride as a campaigner.

Many of the 600 people who heard Bush speak Wednesday night at a dinner in Century City are supporting him, so they were not expected to be critical of his performance. But even they were surprised at the power of Bush’s speech and with how he took on criticism of his candidacy.

“He was dynamic,” said Rod Rood, former head of the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency and a longtime player in Republican politics. “It was one of the best political speeches I have ever heard.”

Los Angeles attorney Charles G. Bakaly III said the speech had reassured some of the powerful people in the room who have been watching Bush attempt to remain loyal to President Reagan while establishing his own identity.

“He sounded very confident,” said Bakaly. He was the most energetic I have heard him in a long time. That was a tough crowd in the sense that they have been called upon (to give money) many times. But I think the vice president reassured the people there that he knows what he has to do.”

Among those in the crowd were such prominent California businessmen as Donald Bren, president of the Irvine Co., and entertainment magnate Jerry Weintraub. Also attending the $1,000-a-plate dinner were such longtime backers of President Reagan as Margaret Brock, Holmes Tuttle and Armand Deutsch. Gov. George Deukmejian gave the introduction.

“It was the real George Bush that I know. I think he has made up his mind that he has to come out fighting,” said Tuttle, one of the wealthy Southern California Republicans who helped build Reagan’s political career.

Bush noted in his remarks that some have said his resume was in fact a liability, not an asset, because it looked like he was merely running on his resume.

“I don’t think it is ‘resume’ to have had a broad amount of experience and to try to bring experience to the presidency,” Bush told his audience. “I happen to think it is a plus, not a minus.”

Past Recounted

Noting that he has “never been much about talking about” himself, Bush then recounted his past, from being shot down as a Navy pilot in World War II to serving in the House, starting a business, being ambassador to China and running the CIA.

In a speech interrupted numerous times by applause, he got an especially strong response when he defended the CIA, which he ran in 1976-77, toward the end of the Ford Administration.

“I ran the Central Intelligence Agency and people say that is a liability. They say ‘You ought to tiptoe on that one.’ But I led something at a very difficult time, went in there when it had been demoralized by the attacks of a bunch of little untutored squirts from Capitol Hill (who were) going out there looking at these confidential documents without one single iota of concern about the legitimate security of this country.

“I stood up for the CIA then and I will stand up for it now,” shouted Bush.

Loyalty to Reagan

Bush also defended his reluctance to speak out against Reagan over the last six years, which some critics say has created an identity problem that must be overcome if Bush is to win the GOP nomination.

“When I became vice president I said I would sublimate my own passions to a certain degree and support this President and I’ve taken some flak for it. But that doesn’t bother me. As I (have said), ‘In the Bush family we don’t consider loyalty a character flaw, we consider it a strength.’

“And I am going to stand with this President until the end of our term, without turning my back on him when the going gets tough,” Bush said, in an apparent allusion to the Iran- contra scandal, the worst crisis of the Reagan presidency.

“I will stand shoulder to shoulder with this President and say, ‘Here is what we have accomplished.’ And there is going to be plenty of good things–and you give me half the credit for the good things and I’ll take all the credit for the flak and the static and I’ll come out a great big winner.”

Promising to make education, energy, low taxes and arms control his top goals as President, Bush ridiculed pundits who note that the last sitting vice president to be elected President was Martin Van Buren in 1836.

“You take what we have done and build on it. So I am not worried about the Martin Van Buren syndrome. Nor am I worried that I can create my own ideas and my own path to the future of this country.”