Joachim Andersen hailed the “unbelievable” quality of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise after the Crystal Palace pair inspired Sunday’s dismantling of West Ham and claimed: “Any team would love to have them.”
Olise opened the scoring in the derby at Selhurst Park, before Eze’s acrobatic volley doubled the home lead inside 16 minutes. Both players then laid on goals for Jean-Philippe Mateta, as Oliver Glasner’s men cruised to a 5-2 success, their most emphatic of the campaign.
While the talent and potential of both Olise and Eze has long been clear, injuries mean the game was just the sixth time in 33 Premier League matches this term that they have started in the same team.
“I think every team would want to have them,” centre-back Andersen said. “We haven’t seen them play together so much this season and every time they’ve played together they’ve been unbelievable.
“Everyone’s wishing those two can stay fit, keep playing how they do and they’ll score goals like they did today.”
Following last weekend’s 1-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield, Sunday’s result secured back-to-back Premier League wins for Palace for the first time all season. While the Eagles, who are now 11 points clear of the drop-zone in 14th, have little left to play for this season, Andersen believes their strong end to the campaign shows they are onto a winner in Glasner, who took over from Roy Hodgson in February and has made a swift impact with his attacking brand of football.
“We’ve been learning every game, we know more and more about what the manager wants,” he said. “We see that on the pitch, we see that in training and that gives us hope and belief for next season.”
Fellow defender Chris Richards added: “Oliver has brought a lot of good stuff to us, a lot of good ideas, a lot of values. We’re trying to bring it all on board, finish the season strong and have a good preparation leading into next season and really compete.
“We view every game as another day to get better, another day to prove yourself.”
