Wilfried Zaha determined to focus on Crystal Palace positives in Liverpool loss
Wilfried Zaha insisted that he would look at the positives despite Crystal Palace being on the wrong end of a seven-goal thriller at Anfield.
Zaha was back on form as he helped put Palace ahead by beating James Milner and pulling the ball back for Andros Townsend in the first-half.
But Liverpool raced out of the blocks in the second half and scored two quick goals, before James Tomkins’ header made it 2-2, only for a Julian Speroni error and Sadio Mane’s late goal to win it for the hosts, with Max Meyer’s last-minute effort merely a consolation.
Palace went toe-to-toe with the Premier League leaders and that was cause for positivity for the mercurial winger, who has struggled to hit top form this season but remains the team’s most influential player.
“We have to take the positives,” he said.
“We played really well and didn’t panic thinking we were playing against a top team – we tried to express ourselves.
“It was against a side that are top of the league for a reason and we showed how dangerous we are when we are performing well so it’s something we need to take that into the next game.
“You can’t come to Anfield and score three goals but still lose. We need to tighten up because some of the goals we conceded are just not good enough so it’s not a case of we performed well but were unlucky, we just need to be better, a lot better.”
The 26-year-old refused to take too much credit for his fine assist, instead ensuring he focused on the Eagles’ upcoming fixtures.
The next game for Palace sees them return to FA Cup action with a tough test at Selhurst Park with Tottenham the visitors on Sunday, and the Ivorian is keen to avenge defeat on Merseyside with victory over Spurs.
“Yes, I am happy with the assist but it makes no difference if you lose the game,” said Zaha. “So even though I am happy to have provided the cross and obviously pleased Andros managed to score, at the end of the day we lost and need to put it behind us now.
“Any game I play in is one that we all want to win and the game against Tottenham will be no different so after this performance, even though we are not happy we lost, we will take the positives and hopefully get a win next weekend.”
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