Four takeaways from Crystal Palace’s 2-0 victory over Manchester City – Wilf Zaha reaches milestone as Vieira secures second win

Goals from Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher gave Patrick Vieira his second win as Crystal Palace manager and ended a run of four straight draws.

Zaha’s strike in the sixth minute saw him become the first Crystal Palace player to score 50 Premier League goals for the club.

Vieira made three changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Newcastle for the trip to the Etihad. Despite scoring in consecutive games, Wilfried Zaha replaced Christian Benteke, and Michael Olise and Luka Milivojevic dropped out for Jordan Ayew and Cheikhou Kouyate.

Here are Edmund Brack’s takeaways from the match:

MILESTONE FOR ZAHA AS PALACE START BRIGHTLY

Unlike previous first halves under Vieira, with 91 per cent of the Eagles’ goals coming in the second half of games this season prior to kick-off, Palace started on top at the Premier League champions.

For the first goal that Pep Guardiola’s side had conceded at home this season, Zaha capitalised on an Aymeric Laporte error to score his 50th top-flight goal in red and blue.

Conor Gallagher closed the Spanish centre back down on the halfway line and set free Zaha, who was starting as the lone striker with Odsonne Edouard playing on the left of the front three.

The Ivorian talisman skipped past Ruben Dias, played a neat one-two with Gallagher, and slotted the ball past Ederson with a left-footed shot from just inside the area.

Palace’s main protagonist was back to his very best as a centre-forward, burdening the attacking threat and carrying the Eagles up the pitch at any opportunity.

Zaha proved to be a thorn in City’s defence and forced Laporte into cynically bringing him down and reducing Guardiola’s side to 10 men before half time.

AYEW’S DEFENSIVE WORK SHOWS HE WAS THE CORRECT CHOICE

While many would have hoped for Michael Olise to make his first back-to-back start in the Premier League, Jordan Ayew’s defensive determination proved Vieira made the right call to play the Ghanaian international.

Doubling up with Joel Ward against the threat of Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Joao Cancelo – arguably the deadliest trio in world football – Ayew proved to be a stubborn figure to thwart City’s advances on the left-hand side.

Several times in the first half, Ayew would be sitting as an extra midfielder right in front of Ward, protecting the passing lines and denying City the opportunity to carve the Eagles open.

PALACE REDISCOVER DEFENSIVE RESILIENCE

While it wasn’t the free-flowing, confident football that has blown many of their opponents away this season, Vieira’s side showed a hardened resilience to grind out a win and defend against a constant onslaught for over 80 minutes.

It was a classy defensive performance from the centre-back partnership of Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi. Between them, the duo made nine clearances throughout the 90 and looked calm and composed as the Eagles saw out their second Premier League win of the season.

Both Joel Ward and Tyrick Mitchell played vital roles in Palace’s defensive sturdiness, too. Ward, 32, made the most clearances of any Palace player with seven, and Mitchell did well to contain Gabriel Jesus.

The defence stayed focused until the last second of the game, learning from their previous experiences to see out the win.

GALLAGHER DESERVED A GOAL AND WAS CRUCIAL TO THE WIN

A large part of Palace’s perseverance came through Conor Gallagher.

The 21-year-old’s energy and desire to drive back and forth from each penalty area was key to Palace coming away with all three points.

He supplied Zaha with ammunition and contributed to the defensive unit. The Chelsea loanee made the most tackles of any Palace player, six, and he won seven ground duels, two interceptions and made four key passes during the match.

His performance deserved a goal. And with time running out, Gallagher linked up with Olise and Zaha before curling a right-footed shot off the post and wrapping up all three points.