Wilfried Zaha remains integral to Crystal Palace’s future and the irrepressible forward struck twice to fire his team to their first win of the season. Despite conceding an early goal to Aston Villa via Ollie Watkins, Palace recovered rapidly with an equaliser from Zaha before a rebound effort, from a second-half penalty, and a goal from the substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta completed a thrilling turnaround.
Palace were rampant at times and their manager, Patrick Vieira, described the performance as one of the best since his arrival last year. Vieira, who preferred to focus on their collective strength despite several standout individuals, said: “I’m really happy. From the first minute to the last we played with a lot of intensity. I would say it’s one of the most consistent performances from the start to the end.”
