THE OD COUPLE
| Published date | 12 September 2021 |
| Publication title | People, The |
SPURS 0
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...
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