Patrick Vieira has praised Crystal Palace’s maturity following the 2-0 win against Wolves – and he believes that the potential of the side is starting to show.
Second-half goals from Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher earned the Eagles all three points against a Wolves side who were unbeaten in their last five games.
Zaha opened the scoring in the 61st minute after James McArthur cut open the Wolves defence with a pinpoint pass. Gallagher doubled the tally and sealed all three points with a shot from inside the area that bounced off Conor Coady and rolled past Jose Sa.
Wilfried Zaha scores Palace’s first goal and celebrates (below) Pictures: Keith Gillard
The South Londoners recorded their second win and clean sheet in succession – moving up to ninth in the Premier League table and maintaining their unbeaten start at Selhurst Park.
Vieira said: “It was really important to get the result that we wanted to win the game – especially after the result we had at Man City. It was a really good team performance against a really difficult side, and it was quite hard for us to create chances.
“I was really pleased with the performance, but overall, the team played quite well.
“We showed today that we have improved as a team. We wanted this from the first game that we played against Chelsea, which was about how we can improve individually to allow ourselves to be more of a team and more solid collectively.
“When you’re looking at how the players work every day in training, we get rewarded with the result. We knew that this team had potential, and the potential has started to be seen, but we need to keep that work ethic and momentum going.
Conor Gallagher makes it 2-0 Picture: Keith Gillard
“When you look at all the games that we have played, today we showed that the maturity of the team took one step forward. It’s important for us to keep defending well as a team to try and keep the clean sheet and obviously to create chances and try to score goals.
“Our performance was excellent against a really hard team to play against.”
Vieira also hailed the impact of Chelsea loanee Gallagher following the match. He scored his fourth goal of the season in the second half.
“His performance has been terrific – it’s been excellent. It’s just about how he closes people down and the energy he is giving the team. He is in a really good period – he is scoring goals and working well for the team.
“There is a lot of confidence in himself at the moment, and the team as well is doing well to allow him to express himself.”
PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD
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