Wilfried Zaha reacts to Alan Pardew’s criticism after Stoke win
WILFRIED ZAHA has reacted to his Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew’s criticism of his demeanour by insisting he does not have to be happy all the time.
The Palace forward was told last week to stop “sulking” and start “smiling” but he ignored the comments to let his football do the talking.
Zaha scored the 45th-minute goal to give his side all three points, taking them up to 36 which all but seals their Premier League survival.
The 22-year-old is back at Palace after failing to impress at Manchester United but does not feel Pardew’s appraisal is valid.
“When it is time to be serious I’m serious,” he said. “When it is time to play around I will play around. I will smile when I need to.
“I am smiling now definitely. It was a good win. We never had the best game but we’re buzzing with the win.
“We’ve got the points we’ve needed to now so we can play without pressure and enjoy the rest of the season.”
Pardew himself re-iterated his comments.
“It is a message as a manager you don’t say publicly often,” he said.
“But I think it is important everyone understands that he is a young player and young players need that exuberance, particularly with the way he plays.
GETTY
Wilfried Zaha made his feelings known after his winning goal
“And smiling and being happy is part of that exuberance.”
Stoke appeared to be running this game when Mame Diouf scored in the 14th minute, deflecting in Charlie Adam’s free-kick.
But a big refereeing mistake by Andre Marriner helped Palace back into the game as Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic conceded a penalty despite appearing to be one that was fouled in a collision with Yannick Bolasie.
Glenn Murray duly converted the penalty and then Zaha scored what turned out to be the winner in first half stoppage time.
This was a second straight loss for Stoke who had the better of the second half and were frustrated again when Marriner failed to award a penalty for a Joel Ward handball from Diouf’s shot.
“We’ve got eight games left and we’ll be hungry to set the record straight in the next game against Chelsea,” said defender Marc Wilson.
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