Southampton 1 Crystal Palace 2: Wilfried Zaha comes off the bench to score dramatic last-minute winner
WILFRIED ZAHA snarled and cupped his ears as he hit a sweet, last-gasp winner after a week from hell.
The broken and bruised Crystal Palace winger had been branded a diver by Kalvin Phillips after being booted by Leeds players in the 0-0 draw on Monday.
But Phillips’ jibe meant Zaha unleashed the full brunt of his anger on Southampton after Oriol Romeu's opener and Eberechi Eze's equalizer.
Zaha's 90th-minute strike means the Eagles have now passed the magical 40-point mark – a numerical symbol of survival in Prem history and beyond.
The silky forward had been described in the matchday programme on Saturday as the “jewel” in Palace’s crown.
But he spent the first half on the bench as the Leeds pummelling had been so bad that he only came on in the 63rd minute.
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Boss Patrick Vieira also hit back at Phillips and said before the match: “For someone who apparently dives so much he seems to be kicked an awful lot.”
The south Londoners were crying out for Zaha's twinkle toes to light up their sleepy first-half, given he had shone in the pulsating reverse fixture by opening the scoring in the 2-2 draw.
That left his rival, set-piece wizard James Ward-Prowse to steal the show early on with his old tricks.
The Saints midfielder stood over an awkward free-kick but still managed to lash it in with venom before it was well blocked by Joel Ward.
But the visitors were instantly made to pay from the resulting corner.
Ward-Prowse stepped up again to ping an inch-perfect delivery onto Oriol Romeu’s noggin for him to crisply head home on nine minutes.
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All Vicente Guaita could do was flap at thin air as Romeu’s second Prem goal of the season sailed beyond him.
The Spanish midfielder’s only other time on target came two months ago in the 2-0 win over Norwich in February.
Saints were thanking their lucky stars Connor Gallagher didn’t have his shooting boots as he squandered a string of golden chances in the first-half.
Palace had fizzed it up the other end and Jordan Ayew cut it back for Gallagher but he fluffed his lines and Southampton mopped up the danger with ease.
It was put on a plate again for the but he blew another peach of a chance by hashing his header wide, when he was smack bang in front of goal.
The Eagles were establishing a gradual dominance and Gallagher had another chance, but he had his head in his hands when he blazed a wild shot over.
It was heavy touches and misplaced passes which let Vieira’s side down - but they weren’t going into the break with their tails between their legs.
A bullet Ayew header stung the hands of Fraser Forster before James McArthur’s follow up was comfortably held by the Saints stopper.
The heroic Saints goalkeeper again showed why he should be tied down on a new deal with his contract expiring in June and him set to leave as a free agent.
Palace pressed high after the restart and an Ayew shot was punched out by Forster but only as far as Schlupp who scuffed it.
The visitors were beginning to pop it about with snap and crackle - they just needed another sniff.
That arrived from Eze, on only his third Prem start of the season due to his ACL injury hell in May last year.
The Greenwich-born youngster drilled a corker beyond Forster after being teed up at the back post by Nathaniel Clyne’s cross on the hour mark.
The desperation to not let precious points slip in the race for top ten was felt in both managers’ substitutions.
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Zaha replaced Mateta while big guns Armando Broja and Stuart Armstrong came on Shane Long and Che Adams.
It was Zaha who came up trumps at the death, after getting the ball outside the box and holding off Jan Bednarek before turning and blasting in a low drive.