Andros Townsend hails Wilfried Zaha after the Palace attacker plays key role in shooting down Manchester United

BY SAM SMITH

Andros Townsend hailed Wilfried Zaha’s “captain’s performance” after the forward netted twice to help Crystal Palace win 3-1 against Manchester United.

Zaha captained the Eagles in a competitive game for the first time against his former side and his two second-half goals added to Townsend’s early opener.

Townsend said of the Ivorian: “[He was] Incredible. What more do you want me to say? He’s an incredible talent, he’s shown that throughout the last six or seven years he’s been here. He’s never been any different.

“He captained the side today and it was a real captain’s performance. We’re very fortunate to have him in our ranks and hopefully we can have him for a while longer yet.”

Palace have won their opening two Premier League matches for the first time since promotion in 2013. It has been 14 years since they managed that in any division.

But, despite the good start, Townsend wants to manage expectations. “Last season showed us we can’t get carried away. We have had a good start and it doesn’t get any easier next week with Everton, who are flying high,” he told Sky Sports.

“We need to keep our heads in the game and take it one game at a time – like the old cliché goes. We know with what we have in the dressing room that we can go and have a good season. We had a good start last season but fell away towards the end and hopefully we can learn from our mistakes this season.