‘Nobody hid’ – Crystal Palace boss Vieira delighted at character in fightback win over Wolves

Patrick Vieira praised his Crystal Palace side for not hiding after going a goal down in their 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Selhurst Park on Tuesday evening.

Second-half goals from Eberechi Eze and Wilfried Zaha gave the Eagles their third Premier League win of the season.

Wolves opened the scoring in the 31st minute. Hugo Bueno found himself in acres of space down the left-hand side and sent a ball towards the back post. Adama Traore scored the visitor’s first goal away from home since the opening day of the season after he pulled away from Tyrick Mitchell and headed the cross past Vicente Guaita.

Palace equalised just after half time through Eberechi Eze. The 24-year-old headed past Jose Sa after meeting Michael Olise’s tantalising ball towards the back post.

Wilfried Zaha put them ahead in the 70th minute. Eze played a defence-splitting pass through to Odsonne Edouard, who cut the ball back to Zaha inside the penalty area. The Ivorian scored his fifth of the season with a perfectly-placed shot past Sa.

“We managed to score two goals today against a really good side,” Vieira explained to BBC Sport.

“The first half was an even game. Going 1-0 down was hard on us, but we showed character and quality, and we managed to win the game.

“I’m really pleased with the attitude that we showed. Even in the first half, the tempo was good, but we came back in the second half with more determination.

“We managed to keep the tempo high, and that allowed us to score the early goal. We showed character and scored a really good goal in the second half.

“I’m glad because today was an important game for us, and we managed to win.”

In all three of Palace’s Premier League wins this season – Aston Villa, Leeds and Wolves – they have gone a goal down before coming back to win the game.

When asked whether that showed the character of his side or that they needed to sharpen up in the opening stages of matches, Vieira added: “It’s both.

“We need to try to score first, especially when you create chances. But on the other hand, we showed character.

“To perform in the Premier League, it’s part of the game to show resilience and personality. When we went 1-0 down, nobody hid, and everybody wanted the ball.”