He’s alright, this boy.
It was Wilfried Zaha who provided two moments of magic which led to Crystal Palace’s comeback against Watford on Tuesday, and he stepped up once again on Saturday as Palace got their first away win of the season against Leicester.
It’s no coincidence that since Zaha’s return from injury, Palace have looked much better, started scoring goals and have now climbed out of the bottom three.
GOAL! Zaha with an absolute beaut. Hodgson is actually going to keep them up, isn’t he?!?! pic.twitter.com/VCjn4acfzs
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOE_UK) December 16, 2017
Zaha continued to impress today, as he scored Palace’s second goal against Leicester and caused the Foxes problems throughout the entire game with his pace, trickery and dribbling.
Speaking after the game, he said:
“The team’s buzzing. We played so well today. We just took our chances so I’m just happy for the squad today.”
He and Christian Benteke, who scored the first goal, combined for the second with a devastating counter attack. On his relationship with Benteke, Zaha said:
“Obviously teams just think that, because Christian wins headers most of the time, they don’t realise that we can both play together and today showed that we can,”
Some Manchester United fans are regretting the lack of opportunity he got at Old Trafford.
Top goal from Zaha, still can't believe Van Gaal never gave him more of a chance at Man United, everybody can see he's a top talent
— @ManUtd_HQ (@ManUtd_HQ) December 16, 2017
People are cottoning on to the fact that he performs at this level most weeks, too.
Still read people now and then calling Zaha inconsistent. He’s really not. Easily Palaces best player.
— Shanta Firmino (@Coppin_LFC) December 16, 2017
Wilfried Zaha is so good. Running rings around Leicester’s defenders here.
— Oliver Young-Myles (@OMyles90) December 16, 2017
With the January window coming up, the big clubs will be snooping around, hoping they can tempt the Ivorian international away from Palace. But the Eagles are in a strong position, with the player tied down to a long-term contract, and given the genuine bond between the club and the player, it’s near certain that he will remain put for now.
Some fans may be left disappointed.
Zaha is actually so good, would take him over Willian any day
— Dan? (@AndreasBleu) December 16, 2017
Palace started the season by not scoring or picking up a single point in their opening eight matches but Zaha is confident of staying up after a run of 7 games undefeated.
“To be honest, I’ve always had confidence in the team. We’re having a good run and it was only a matter of time before we started putting the performances together and just getting up the table really.”