Palace boss Patrick Vieira makes Eberechi Eze admission after winner against Leeds United

Patrick Vieira believes there is “much more” to come from Eberechi Eze after he scored the winner in Crystal Palace’s 2-1 victory over Leeds United.

Leeds scored an early opener through defender Pascal Struijk, who followed up on Brenden Aaronson’s shot which hit the post and placed the ball beyond Vicente Guaita.

Palace found their equaliser through Odsonne Edouard’s 24th-minute header. They sealed all three points with 15 minutes of normal time remaining. 

Edouard controlled the ball and found Tyrick Mitchell waiting on the far left-hand side. 

The left-back played through Wilfried Zaha, who cleverly flicked the ball back to Eberechi Eze on the edge of the box. 

The Greenwich-born playmaker dummied Liam Cooper and left Illan Meslier motionless with a perfectly placed shot into the bottom left-hand corner.

“There’s still much more to come from Ebs,” Vieira said of Eze, who has started all eight of Palace’s Premier League games this season.

“He used to play a little bit on the left-hand side, and at the moment, he is playing more centrally.

“He just needs to find the right position, to be a little bit higher on the field, because he has the ability to score goals and to create chances, so it was a good performance from him. He’s getting better and better.”

Jordan Ayew dropped into a deeper position at the start of the second half, switching with Michael Olise and playing alongside Eze in a more advanced midfield role.

“We needed a bit more physicality,” admitted Vieira on the decision-making behind moving Ayew into a deeper role.

“I felt like we were a little bit light in midfield, and that’s why we decided to move Jordan inside to make us more competitive.”

When asked what Vieira thought Ayew did well in the middle, the Palace boss said: “Holding the ball, linking with Edouard, making runs between the lines and defensively, he competed.

“When he moved inside, we allowed ourselves to compete against them more.”

Ayew was replaced by Tyrick Mitchell in the 65th minute, with the 31-year-old having a bandage wrapped around his head following a coming together with Leeds’ Pascal Struijk.

PHOTOS: KEITH GILLARD