Crystal Palace Earn First Win By Beaten Aston Villa 3-1
Wilfried Zaha scored twice as Crystal Palace earned their first win of the season after coming from a goal down to beat Aston Villa in a lively encounter at Selhurst Park.
But Palace restored parity on the counter less than three minutes later through the impressive Zaha, who shook off Ezri Konsa and beat Emiliano Martinez with a low shot.
The hosts thought they had turned the game on its head when Jeffrey Schlupp struck after 26 minutes only for VAR to adjudge that Odsonne Edouard had strayed offside before finding the Ghana midfielder.
However, VAR later awarded Palace a penalty after Marc Guehi’s back-post header struck Lucas Digne’s arm, with Zaha scoring on the rebound having seen his spot-kick saved by Martinez.
Substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta wrapped up the win for Palace with a well-taken strike – only a minute after replacing Edouard.
“Today, we had a really good performance,” said Palace boss Patrick Vieira.
“From the first minute until the last we played with a lot of intensity and I was really proud of the players.
“It’s one of the most consistent performances that we had from the start to the end.”
On target in the draw at Liverpool on Monday, Zaha took centre stage for Palace once again as he inspired Vieira’s side to a deserved win with his all-action display ably supported by the lively Eberechi Eze.
But Zaha and his team-mates had to do it the hard way after Watkins struck early for Villa, sweeping a confident shot into the bottom corner after Tyrone Mings’ long ball was flicked on by Leon Bailey.
Palace responded strongly, however, and were back on level terms when Zaha scored on the counter just moment after Villa playmaker Emiliano Buendia had seen a penalty appeal waved away following Cheick Doucoure’s challenge.
