VIEIRA GETS THE
PATRICK VIEIRA celebrated a perfect afternoon after giving 10-man Tottenham a tonking.
But his joy stemmed from getting off the mark with a first win as Crystal Palace boss – rather than because of the North London rivalry from his own glorious playing days at Arsenal.
Wilfried Zaha’s second-half penalty sparked the rout at Selhurst Park before a late double from debutant Odsonne Edouard completed a miserable afternoon for Nuno Espirito Santo’s former table-toppers.
Asked if it felt extra special breaking his managerial duck against old foes Spurs, Vieira, with five points from a possible 12, played down any lingering capital rivalry.
The Frenchman, still to lose a home league game to Spurs, said: “No, what’s really important was to win after working so hard all week.
“Today everything was perfect – from the atmosphere inside the stadium to the quality of our play.”
Then, picking out match-winning pair Zaha and Edouard, the Eagles boss said: “Wilf is one of our main leaders and when he plays at today’s level, the others just follow him.
“I’m so pleased for Edouard – two chances and he scores twice.
“Sometimes changes work, sometimes they don’t but now we have got a proper goalscorer.”
Depleted Spurs arrived with maximum points but never recovered from Japhet Tanganga’s second-half sending-off following two quick bookings.
Add to that Eric Dier’s serious injury after 10 minutes and the fact they were without five regulars and boss Nuno could have been forgiven for making excuses.
But the unhappy Portuguese coach said: “We had a lot of obstacles but made a lot of mistakes.
“I’ve not seen the sending-off but the referee makes his decision and we don’t speak about him – only ourselves.
“We weren’t good. The red card made life harder but we never found a way to play the game.”
This was actually the second game on the spin when the Eagles were facing the league leaders. First West Ham, then Tottenham. Next week it is a trip to Liverpool, which will be their first non-derby date this term.
As against the Hammers, though,
Palace were a match for high-flying opponents.
The game’s only notable incident had been Dier’s nasty foot injury but once Zaha began to dazzle and dominate, the hosts took control.
Zaha dragged a shot wide and had a drive deflected off target before Palace’s closest effort of the period fell to the lively Conor Gallagher.
The on-loan Chelsea playmaker, who scored twice at the London Stadium two weeks ago, was denied another on the stroke of half-time.
His first strike was blocked and then keeper Hugo Lloris did well to save the follow-up.
Nuno must have given his side a serious dressing down at the break as they had been pathetically off the pace. Sent out early, Spurs were in a different mood briefly – and Lucas Moura had their first shot of the day on 48 minutes.
But soon after all hell broke loose as Tanganga cynically fouled Zaha, leading to the pair squaring up and being booked.
So to fly in on Christian Benteke a few minutes later was rather rash of the Spurs youngster – and Jon Moss had no choice but to show him the red card.
If it was not back to the wall for Spurs before that, it was from that point onwards.
For Palace, who had not scored in five of six games this season, the test was to kill off a wounded opponent.
Jordan Ayew had two decent attempts before Gallagher’s 76th-minute cross was handled by sub
Ben Davies.
The linesman flagged,
Moss pointed to the spot and Zaha slammed Palace ahead.
And the home fans were in dreamland as late substitute Edouard grabbed two in seven minutes to mark a sensational start to his
Palace career for the former Celtic star.