Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha: My goal against Chelsea not on a par with Townsend’s wonderstrike at Manchester City

Wilfried Zaha reckons his blockbuster strike in Crystal Palace’s 3-2 defeat to Chelsea is not on the same level as Andros Townsend’s howitzer against Manchester City last season.

Zaha produced a searing finish from more than 30 yards against the Blues to haul the hosts back into Tuesday night’s contest.
Townsend’s spectacular finish at the Etihad Stadium won Palace’s Goal of the Season for the last campaign.

“I don’t think [my goal] is up there with that one,” said Zaha. “That one was unbelievable. That is the best I’ve hit a ball. I just saw a bit of space and thought ‘why not?’

“If you don’t shoot then you don’t score. I don’t really take too many shots during games. Luckily I managed to score. It made us raise our heads and think we can get back in the game. ”

It was Zaha’s fourth goal of the season and his first since netting in the 1-1 draw against Brighton mid-December.

Palace slipped to a fourth successive Premier League reverse but pushed Champions League-chasing Chelsea.

Christian Benteke tapped in from four yards out to make it 3-2 and Scott Dann’s header came back off the left upright.

Zaha said: “We should definitely be proud of ourselves for the performance we gave. If we play like that we’ll win more than we lose. It shows we have got quality in the team, for us to be able to play like that against Chelsea. We have to keep our heads up and play like that more often, because we are good enough.”