The former Arsenal striker timed his run perfectly in injury time, converting Tyrick Mitchell’s low cross for his first Selhurst Park goal as a Palace player.
Palace’s emphatic 4-1 victory under the lights secured their first league win of 2025 in style.
“It’s nice to get the win and get my first one in the Premier League (for Palace),” he told reporters.
“It’s a good feeling, and nice to obviously share that moment with my family and friends and teammates, so I'm really delighted.
“(The manager said) at half-time to keep going. Obviously, we had moments, obviously slight tactical tweaks we had to make, but yeah, it was really just to be decisive and ruthless in the boxes. I think we defended really well at most times and limited them, but we had chances we didn't probably take in the first-half.
“I thought it was a good performance, first- and second-half. Obviously, we reacted really well when they (Villa) did score, but I think it was a really dominant performance. Obviously, we missed a few chances in the first-half, but we were really clinical in the second-half. It was just about being clinical in the second half – and we were able to do that.
“It’s nice to obviously have an effect, win at home and kind of put that little losing run at home to bed.”