Wilfried Zaha “deserves all the praise he is going to get”, said Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson after the winger scored and made another goal to inspire a victory and inflict more misery on bottom side Fulham.
Palace were on the back foot for much of the encounter, with the hosts having almost 70% possession, but netted twice on the counter-attack.
Zaha’s thumping strike was saved by Alphonse Areola but in the next move the Ivorian slipped a sublime reverse ball through to Jairo Riedewald to slot in the opener.
Fulham could have got back into the contest but Ademola Lookman twice hit the woodwork in the opening period, seeing an effort tipped onto the near post by Vicente Guaita and drilling a drive across goal which rattled the other post.
The visitors capitalised in the second half as Michy Batshuayi picked out Zaha for an easy finish at the back post.
Hodgson said of Zaha: “He reminds us that when he’s on top of his game he’s a very hard player to stop.
“He’s an excellent player and that’s what he’s capable of doing. He deserves all the praise he’s going to get.” (BBC)