THE COUPLE
Edouard fires in two as Vieira’s Eagles fly
PATRICK VIEIRA celebrated a perfect afternoon after giving 10-man Tottenham a tonking.
But Vieira’s joy stemmed from getting off the mark with a first win as Crystal Palace boss – rather than from his own glorious playing days as Arsenal skipper.
Wilfried Zaha’s second-half penalty sparked the victory at Selhurst Park before a late double from debutant Odsonne Edouard (above) completed a miserable day for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men.
Asked if it felt special breaking his managerial duck against old foes Spurs, Vieira – with five points from a possible 12 – played down any lingering north London 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.
“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 beamed:
“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 a proper goalscorer.”
Depleted Spurs arrived with maximum points, but never recovered from Japhet Tanganga’s 58th-minute sending-off for two quick cards.
Add to that Eric Dier’s serious injury after 10 minutes and the fact they were without five regulars, boss Nuno could have been forgiven for making excuses.
But the unhappy Portuguese did nothing of the sort and 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.”
The game’s only notable incident had been Dier’s nasty foot injury, but, once Zaha began to dominate, the hosts took control.
The Eagles ace dragged a shot wide and then had a drive deflected off target before Palace’s closest effort of the period fell to lively Conor Gallagher.
The on-loan Chelsea playmaker, who scored twice in the 2-2 draw against West Ham last time out, 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 lacklustre outfit a serious dressing down at the break. They had been pathetically off the pace. Sent out early, Spurs were
in a
different mood briefly – and Lucas Moura produced 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, a shoving match and both being booked.
So, to fly in on Jordan Ayew just five minutes later was rash of the Spurs defender – and ref Jonathan Moss had no choice but to produce a red.
For Palace, who had not scored in five of six games this season, the test was to kill off a wounded, vulnerable opponent.
Ayew had two decent attempts before Gallagher’s 76th-minute cross was handballed by Spurs sub Ben Davies.
The assistant referee flagged, Moss pointed to the spot and Zaha sent Lloris the wrong way.
An already buoyant home faithful then went berserk as late sub Edouard grabbed two in six minutes to mark a sensational start to his Palace career.
The French forward, a £14million deadline-day signing from Celtic, introduced himself in fine fashion by turning in Zaha’s cross just 28 seconds after coming on.
And he did it again by steering in Gallagher’s pass to add the gloss.
I’m so pleased for Edouard. Sometimes changes work, sometimes they don’t, but now we have a proper goalscorer