Jordan Ayew: Ending Crystal Palace goal wait is a big confidence boost

Jordan Ayew reckons his leveller in Crystal Palace’s 2-2 draw against Southampton will give his confidence a boost.

The 30-year-old ended a 43-game goal drought in Wednesday’s Premier League encounter. The last time he netted was in a 4-1 win over Leeds on November 7, 2020.
Ayew told Premier League Productions: “Sometimes you need a bit of luck and I had that today. I’ll take it. It’s good for me and my confidence.

“I need to thank the manager and the staff as well because they’ve been so positive since they’ve arrived. They’ve given me chances to start and it was about time I scored.

“He [Patrick Vieira] has been top class with me. From the first day he came in he told me that he has full confidence in me.

“We are disappointed but overall it’s a fair result. We started really well in the first 10-15 minutes but we dropped a bit and Southampton gave us some pressure for 20 minutes and scored two goals. Second half was much better. We pressed a bit higher, we got some chances, we managed to equalise.”

Odsonne Edouard had a big chance in the first half to double the Eagles lead but couldn’t find the target from six yards out.

Ayew said: “That’s part of football. If you don’t take your chances then you pay the price. I missed a chance against Manchester United and after they scored. The most important thing is that we came back stronger in the second half and we equalised.”

James Ward-Prowse and Armando Broja scored in four first-half minutes to turn the game on its head after Wilfried Zaha had initially given Palace the lead.

Ayew said: “They are the things we need to work on and correct if we want to become a better team and if we want to be in a better position in the league. Tomorrow morning, when we get to training, we will see what the gaffer says.”