Patrick Vieira praises Wilfried Zaha for performance at Norwich – despite Palace attacker missing from the spot

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has called for Wilfried Zaha to produce performances akin to his one against Norwich City on Wednesday evening for the rest of the season.

Zaha scored Palace’s first of the evening in the 60th minute with a stunning shot from the edge of the box that flew past Angus Gunn.

The Ivorian missed a penalty three minutes later at Carrow Road – dragging his effort wide with a scuffed shot after Tyrick Mitchell won the spot-kick.

It was Zaha’s first game for Palace since he was sent off in the 3-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day, with the 29-year-old jetting off to the Africa Cup of Nations soon after.

“The goal was fantastic – it was one of the goals of the month. It was an unbelievable finish,” said Vieira.

“What I was really happy with was his performance – he played well, he worked well, and he created chances.

“This is the Wilfried Zaha that I want to see for the rest of the season. This is the Wilfried Zaha I want to see who works hard with his team-mates and plays with the other players to create chances.

“Today, I was really happy with the game that he had.”

Speaking on Zaha’s opening goal,  which was his sixth goal this season in 18 Premier League appearances, Vieira added: “It was an important goal.

“After that goal, we dominated the possession, and I was a little bit frustrated because we didn’t create enough. That goal put us back into the game and gave us more confidence.”

While Zaha missed the opportunity to give Palace the lead and secure their first Premier League three points of 2022, Vieira believes that the misplaced spot-kick was “unfortunate.”

“When you’re looking at the number of penalties he has taken and scored for us, today, he didn’t.

“That was the chance that could have given us the three points, but I won’t forget the number of penalties he has scored for us.

“That’s part of the game, and when you look at the goal he scored and the impact he had on the game today, for somebody who hasn’t been with us for the past couple of weeks, it’s a good benchmark for what I want from him for the rest of the season.

“We all know Wilfried’s ability, and the challenge that I have for him is to be consistent with his performances.”

Speaking on his side’s overall performance, Vieira added: “We didn’t start the game the way that we planned, and we made it really difficult for ourselves.

“In the second half, we came back, and we played with more tempo, created chances, and we had the ability to win the game with the penalty.

“Overall, we can be frustrated because there was an opportunity for us to win the game, but we didn’t.

“We need to believe more in ourselves as a team and as individuals, to go and perform and create chances.

“We always do it when we have our backs against the wall, which is really positive because the team show character and personality. But what is important for us is to be consistent from the first to the last minute – to be more dangerous with the amount of possession that we have.

“We should create more chances.”