ZAHA’S GOT IRON WIL

C Palace ...... 2 West Ham ...... 2 Late leveller lights up Selhurst spark

NO wonder the Palace faithful worship Wilfried Zaha. The fella is simply magic.

He spent virtually 96 minutes fighting what looked like a lone battle then, with just 60 seconds of added time left, the winger with a box of tricks in his boots cast a spell that produced a precious equaliser.

The fans sang a rousing chorus of Glad All Over afterwards – which is precisely what West Ham were not.

A delighted Palace boss Roy Hodgson (below) said: “There’s no doubt who the headlines are going to be about – and deservedly so.

“Wilf rescued us in the 96th minute – and he had been threatening that all afternoon.

“But the fact that we got two goals is no more than we deserved.

“This showed me that this team has more character than they had been credited with.

“Hopefully this will give these players the extra confidence they need.

“All teams at the bottom need character and ability and after going in two down at half-time when they didn’t really deserve to be and then come out and give such a strong performance in the second half shows what they are about.”

Hodgson was also full of praise for Palace’s fans.

He added: “I don’t think I have ever been involved with a club where nobody has left the ground after 95 minutes when we were losing and then stayed to cheer the players off at the end.

“They are going to be very important to us.”

West Ham have only themselves to blame for surrendering a two-goal goal lead and – probably understandably – tempers boiled over at the end when skipper Mark Noble clashed with Palace’s Yohan Cabaye.

An explosive end to what started like a damp squib.

To be fair, West Ham’s opener was arguably worth waiting for – a superb counter-attack that brought a wonderful goal.

With Palace back-pedalling furiously, Andre Ayew sent Aaron Cresswell clear – the wing-back’s cross was on the button and Javier Hernandez met it with a clinical finish.

No wonder the Mexico star pointed to the heavens afterwards because his side needed that all right.

Justification, too, you could say, for Slaven Bilic’s decision to start with him instead of Andy Carroll.

What followed 12 minutes later was worth the entrance money on its own – no matter which side you support.

Ayew picked up the ball in his own half and the Ghana star went on a run that left defenders trailing in his wake and ended with him smashing the ball into the roof of the net.

Palace claimed they should have had a penalty when Timothy Fosu-Mensah went tumbling in the box before either of those goals – but the Hammers probably deserved their half-time lead.

There was no question about the penalty that Palace were awarded four minutes into the second half, however. Andros Townsend looked odds-on to score before Angelo Ogbonna gave him a reckless push and Luka Milivojevic belted home the spot-kick.

It should have been 2-2 soon afterwards but with Joe Hart beaten, the post denied Cabaye an equaliser that would have been almost as eye-catching as Ayew’s earlier cracker. And if the England keeper had not produced two more spectacular saves from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Cabaye and the crossbar had not denied Bakary Sako, Palace would not have needed Zaha’s dramatic late show to claim a point.

But the contrasting expressions on the faces of bosses Hodgson and Bilic at the end said it all.

A despondent Bilic said: “We knew how important this game was and everything was there for us to take the three points but we gave them the opportunities to score.

“To have conceded like that was a killer – it feels more like a defeat.”