Every word from Patrick Vieira’s post-West Ham press conference – Crystal Palace recorded 2-1 win through Zaha and Olise

Crystal Palace recorded their first away win of the 2022-23 Premier League season after a 2-1 victory at West Ham United.

The Hammers took the lead through Said Benrahma, who was allowed space on the edge of the box to take aim from distance and crack a shot past Vicente Guaita.

Palace equalised through Wilfried Zaha, and Michael Olise gave Palace all three points in the 94th minute after his left-footed shot deflected off Aaron Cresswell and beyond Lukasz Fabianski.

Below is every word from Patrick Vieira’s written press conference after the game:

An away win at last. It had been coming, hadn’t it?

“Yeah, it has been coming. I think away from home, we have had some difficult games, but overall, the performances were quite good.

“Today, again, it was a really good performance from the team.”

Must have been pleased with how determined your team were to keep going until the end and to get that winner late on?

“Yeah, this is the way we want to play the game. From the start, we were really positive – we had a good approach to the game.

“We managed to control the game – we had possession. We dominated the game, but also one of the parts of the game we really need to improve, which is trying to score goals when we’re on top.”

How important will that be for confidence – getting that first win away from home. It must be a boost to confidence?

“It’s really good for confidence. It’s a win away from home with a really good game of football. We were well-positioned, well disciplined, and we played some good football at times. 

“I’m really happy with the players because, like I said, away from home, we had some really good performances but didn’t get what we fully deserved.

“Today, we deserved that win.”

If Olise’s goal hadn’t gone in, would you have been disappointed?

“I would have been disappointed, yes, because I think that we were the better team.

“At the same time, I would have to make us understand why we didn’t win that game.

“Even if we won the game, I think we still have a lot to improve and to work on because we had enough possession and situations to score more goals and to make better decisions in the last third.

“Even defensively, I think we conceded too many situations.

“This is a really good win for confidence, but it doesn’t take away some of the parts of the game we need to improve on.”

Second time this season Michael has finished a full 90 minutes in the Premier League. Feel as though you can trust him now to see out games?

“There wasn’t any reason for me to take him off.

“From the start of the game, he was really lively, he was getting the ball to his feet, and he was creating situations for us.

“He had a really, really good game today. Michael is still growing as a player.

“When we played away at Everton, he found it really difficult to get involved in the game. Today was much better.

“We have to expose him for him to grow as a player. There is no doubt about his ability to score goals or to play well.”

Now about finding consistency in his performances? 

“Yeah, [but] as a team. We played well when we were in possession from Vicente at the back. We defended well from Wilfried up front, and our game was consistent.

“Even if it’s always difficult to control the game for 95 minutes, but overall we did really well today.”

A word on Tyrick Mitchell. Made a handful of really smart tackles in the second half.

 “I think we’re starting to see the Tyrick. In the last three or four games, he has been doing really well. 

“We need him at his best to perform and to keep performing the way he did today.” 

What did you make of the penalty which was overturned? 

“I didn’t have a chance to look at it.”

Was your initial reaction was that it was soft? 

“I really don’t know. I was speaking with the fourth official, who was communicating with the other referees.

“Today, it went in our favour. But he went to look at it again, and he made the decision. I believe it was the right decision.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD