Cote d’Ivoire attacker Wilfried Zaha achieved a scoring landmark for Crystal Palace as they handed Tottenham Hotspur a 3-0 defeat in the Premier League on Saturday.
On the return of action after the international break, the winger netted what was the Eagles’ 500th Premier League goal in the home win at Selhurst Park.
New signing Odsonne Edouard scored the other two goals in the matchday four tie.
The win has sent Palace up to 11th on the standings but Tottenham, meanwhile, stay top of the league despite the defeat but their status could change by the end of Saturday’s matches.
Zaha made Patrick Vieira’s matchday squad alongside Ghana striker Jordan Ayew and Senegal midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate.
After a goalless first-half, the biggest talking point after the interval was undoubtedly the sending off of Tottenham’s Japhet Tanganga, who walked off the pitch for a second bookable offence in the 58th minute for fouling Ayew.
Palace then capitalised on their numerical advantage to take the game to the visitors.
In the 76th minute, the Eagles and Zaha registered their landmark 500th Premier League goal from the spot after Ben Davies was adjudged to have handled the ball following a video review.
Fifty-seven (11.4%) of these goals have been penalties, the highest proportion by any of the 20 clubs to have scored 500+ goals in the competition’s history, according to Opta.
Eight minutes after the opener, Edouard, having come on as a second-half substitute, made it 2-0 to the hosts, finding the back of the net with a shot from inside the box following a Zaha assist.
With the job all but done, Vieira took off Ayew, bringing on England attacker of Nigerian descent Michael Olise for his debut.
Edouard, though, was not done just yet as he drove a thunderous effort into the net to make it 3-0 in stoppage time.
It was Palace’s first win of the season, having lost one and drawn two of their opening three games.
Ghana winger Jeffrey Schlupp and England U21 star of Nigerian descent Eberechi Eze were both missing from the Eagles’ matchday set-up due to injury.
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