Zaha salutes Crystal Palace’s shock Chelsea triumph

Wilfried Zaha reckons that Crystal Palace sent shockwaves across the Premier League by springing one of the surprises of the season at Chelsea last weekend.

Within the opening 11 minutes at Stamford Bridge, in-form winger Zaha scored to cancel out Cesc Fabregas’ opening goal before then setting up Christian Benteke’s winner, with a 2-1 victory keeping Sam Allardyce’s Eagles four points above the Premier League drop zone.

Zaha, who looks set to be offered a new contract by chairman Steve Parish, is certain that few pundits would have tipped Palace to upset Antonio Conte’s title-favourites and has called on his team to use their West London triumph as inspiration for the remainder of the season.

“They are top of the league and playing really well, so no one was expecting us to beat them at their own stadium, and I can’t describe how good I feel about this now,” said the 24-year-old Ivory Coast international.

“You just have to believe in yourselves as a group and that’s what we did in this match – we worked hard and took our chances, which, as I say, was always going to be vital.

“It’s a massive confidence boost to us and it gives us all a lift going into the final nine games of the season.

“We know the talent we have within the squad and the work we are putting in is having its rewards, and everyone is seeing the difference with the recent results.”