Vieira confirms Crystal Palace’s penalty-taker after Zaha howler

The Eagles lost a golden opportunity to snatch all three points against Norwich last time out after Zaha missed a penalty.

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira sees no reason to drop Wilfried Zaha as the club’s penalty-taker, insisting the star’s record from the spot is ‘really good’.

The Ivory Coast international had a rare penalty miss in the club’s 1-1 draw against Norwich City on Wednesday, soon after scoring the opening goal of the Premier League match.

But it wasn’t so much the fact Zaha missed that left fans talking, it was how he missed.

The winger appeared to slip as he stepped up and scuffed his kick several feet wide – a penalty kick some have described as the worst they’ve ever seen.

“I think people always remember the last penalty. But when you look at his record on penalties it’s been really good, so there’s no reason we should change,” said Vieira on the club’s website.

Zaha misses from the spot. What a terrible penalty #NORCRY pic.twitter.com/vwE7KaSko2

— Football24/7 (@foet247europa) February 9, 2022

‘He has to score more’

In many ways, the Norwich draw brought out the best and worst of Zaha. While the Ivorian was guilty of a poor penalty miss, he did score a brilliant long-range equalizer at Carrow Road.

“That was obviously a fantastic goal, a wonderful goal. This is Wilfried Zaha at his best. This is what we need, what we want from him,” continued Vieira.

“We know he’s capable of delivering for the team and we want him to do it more often. He has the personality and ability to do it. We want him to do it more often with the support of the players around him.

“He has to score more because of his ability to do so. He’s a player I believe with his ability can create more and score more. It will not be him by himself; he needs the team around, the performance and the chances created to put him in a situation to express his talent.

“When I talk about him doing more it’s not about him as an individual – it’s about using the players around him, the way we play, the chances we create.”

Zaha and Palace return to action on Saturday away to Brentford in the Premier League.