Wilfried Zaha underlined his importance to Crystal Palace after scoring twice on his return to help his team cruise to a 5-1 Premier League win over 10-man West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
Zaha had missed the past two games after testing positive for the coronavirus, and in his absence Palace lost both matches. Back in the team for this 200th Premier League start, the Ivory Coast international scored Palace's second and fourth goals at The Hawthorns.
The visitors took an early lead after Darnell Furlong diverted a Zaha cross into his own net in the eighth minute, but West Brom deservedly pulled level on the half hour mark when Conor Gallagher fired into the bottom corner.
A match that was shaping up to be an even contest turned in Palace's favour four minutes later as Matheus Pereira was controversially sent off, after Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervention, for appearing to kick out at Patrick van Aanholt.
With the numerical advantage, Palace dominated the second half and Zaha got his side ahead 10 minutes after the break with a fine finish, before Christian Benteke scored his first goal of the season soon after the make it 3-1.
Zaha then grabbed his second after a driving run from Eberechi Eze, with Benteke also earning a brace to ensure Palace scored five goals away from home in the Premier League for the first time.
"We looked dangerous throughout the game and I am really pleased," Palace manager Roy Hodgson told the BBC.
"Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke showed they are goalscorers at heart. Every team would miss their best player.
"Our front four have enormous talent, Premier League quality. If we can get them the ball often enough I'd expect them to score goals."
While the three points move Palace toward mid-table, the defeat keeps promoted West Brom in the relegation zone, and Baggies manager Slaven Bilic conceded that Pereira's dismissal turned the game.
"We played good. They scored a cheap first goal, but then we came back, we equalised and we were on top of the game," he said. "It all looked really good but that [red card] moment was a decisive moment in the game."
Vardy strikes late to sink United
The only club below West Brom in the table, Sheffield United, slumped to another defeat after Leicester City claimed a late 2-1 win at Bramall Lane.
Ayoze Perez opened the scoring for the visitors in the 24th minute but the lead lasted just two minutes as Oliver McBurnie headed home the equaliser.
Sheffield United were perhaps lucky to still have 11 players on the pitch by the end of the first half, with Max Lowe escaping a second yellow card for a rash, late challenge on Perez.
The contest maintained a good tempo throughout but neither side looked like they would find the crucial goal to earn all three points. That was until the first minute of injury time when Jamie Vardy latched on to a through pass from James Maddison before curling his effort past United keeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Leicester, who had lost their previous two matches, move back into the top four, while United remain stuck on one point, six from safety.
