Premier League winners and losers: Van la Parra brilliance, Zaha howler
By Ty Finch
Loser: Wilfried Zaha
Well, Zaha can’t be a winner every week.
Wilfried Zaha has been Palace’s best player by some distance this season. His absence during his injury was noticeable, and he made an instant impact the first game he came back. Unfortunately, not every game can be a positive one. Against Tottenham on Sunday, Zaha could’ve been a hero yet again, but missed an absolute golden chance to put Palace ahead in the second half.
Andros Townsend intercepted a pass near midfield before lashing a long pass to Zaha, who made a smart run. The ball initially looked to be too long for the Ivorian, but Hugo Lloris is injured and Paulo Gazzaniga is not the sweeper-keeper that Lloris is. Zaha got to the ball as Gazzaniga made his way out of his net and rounded the keeper with ease. All he had to do was pass the ball into the empty net to give Palace the lead. He didn’t.
Palace still sit on four points on the season, and Zaha is directly responsible for all four of them. His goal against Chelsea secured their first three points of the season and his last-gasp goal against West Ham last week picked up the other point. But there are moments like these that dampens his overall impact. Palace absolutely should’ve come away from the match with at least a point.
It’s not all Zaha’s fault, for sure. His cross early in the first half towards Mamadou Sakho was sublime and was perhaps the next best chance, and Palace had more shots on target than Tottenham. However, the biggest chance fell to Zaha, and he fluffed it.