‘So wasteful’ Crystal Palace fans single out one man for criticism in first half of Norwich clash

Crystal Palace fans have taken to social media in their droves to single out the performances of one man during a disappointing first half against Norwich.

Sent back into the relegation zone by a Newcastle win on Tuesday night, Norwich knew that they needed a win to leapfrog the much-changed Magpies, and indeed take them to within five points of Patrick Vieira’s Palace side.

And they got off to the perfect start too, as Teemu Pukki took advantage of some sloppy Crystal Palace defending to give the Canaries the advantage over the Eagles in the first minute of the encounter.

No messing about by #NCFC who score in under a minute! ⚡️

Teemu Pukki gives Dean Smith’s side an early lead.

🎬 @btsportfootballpic.twitter.com/0cqRQIVZv7

— The Athletic UK (@TheAthleticUK) February 9, 2022

And while Crystal Palace have not been awful, they have been far below the standard set by their previous performances. Palace fans pointed to one man as the central issue.

Zaha facing unwelcome return

Wilfried Zaha was the man who ended up facing much of the Palace faithful’s ire on his return from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Chosen ahead of Odsonne Edouard, he proceeded to struggle against the Canaries, something that, as can be seen below, Eagle’s fans were quick to pick up on.

Olise is levels above Zaha

— Tom (@tomcriv) February 9, 2022

Sorry but Zaha needs to start working harder, really frustrating me.

— Chrissy Palace (@ChrissyPalace) February 9, 2022

RELEASE ZAHA

— William James Hughes enjoyer🇧🇷 (@cpfcadam_) February 9, 2022

Zaha do something help my boy Olise

— #24 (@EyadYeah) February 9, 2022

Zaha is just so wasteful

— Aaron🦅 (@aclarkee07) February 9, 2022

Olise has proved how much of a fraud Zaha is atm

— GWB (@GeorgeBakerr97) February 9, 2022

Zaha slows EVERYTHING down😴

— Luke (@lukec_1987) February 9, 2022

So when is Zaha going to stop being terrible?

— Nick 🦅 (@Nick_CPFC) February 9, 2022

Oh dear. Ward having a nightmare. Guehi can beat a man better than Zaha. Thank god for Mitchell #cpfc

— Patrick Ovens (@OvensPatrick) February 9, 2022

#Zaha is a dangerous player but I’m sorry… I’ll take #ASM everyday of the week & twice on Sunday. #NUFC

— Caleb (@YankGeordie) February 9, 2022

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester City	23	41	57
2	Liverpool FC	22	39	48
3	Chelsea FC	24	30	47
4	West Ham United	24	11	40
5	Manchester United	23	6	39
6	Arsenal FC	21	8	36
7	Tottenham Hotspur	20	2	36
8	Wolverhampton Wanderers	21	3	34
9	Brighton & Hove Albion	22	0	30
10	Leicester City	20	-3	26
11	Aston Villa	21	-4	26
12	Southampton FC	22	-8	25
13	Crystal Palace	22	-3	24
14	Brentford FC	23	-12	23
15	Leeds United	21	-16	22
16	Everton FC	21	-13	19
17	Newcastle United	22	-20	18
18	Norwich City	22	-32	16
19	Watford FC	22	-18	15
20	Burnley FC	20	-11	14

Player	Team	Goals
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	16
Jota, Diogo	Liverpool FC	10
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City	9
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	8
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	8
Ronaldo, Cristiano	Manchester United	8
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur	8
Smith-Rowe, Emile	Arsenal FC	8
Raphinha	Leeds United	8
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	8
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	7
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	7
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	7
Gallagher, Conor	Crystal Palace	7
Maupay, Neal	Brighton & Hove Albion	7
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City	7
Silva, Bernardo	Manchester City	7
Mahrez, Riyad	Manchester City	6
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	6
Maddison, James	Leicester City	6

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
Salisu, Mohammed	Southampton FC	0	7
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	0	6
Neves, Ruben	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	7
Maguire, Harry	Manchester United	0	6
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	0	6
Rice, Declan	West Ham United	0	6
Westwood, Ashley	Burnley FC	0	6
Alonso, Marcos	Chelsea FC	0	6
Norgaard, Christian	Brentford FC	0	6
Tarkowski, James	Burnley FC	0	6
Laporte, Aymeric	Manchester City	1	5
Mings, Tyrone	Aston Villa	0	6
Llorente, Diego	Leeds United	0	6
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	6
Ward, Joel	Crystal Palace	0	6
Brownhill, Josh	Burnley FC	0	6
Skipp, Oliver	Tottenham Hotspur	0	6
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	0	4
Gallagher, Conor	Crystal Palace	0	5
Robertson, Andy	Liverpool FC	1	4

Player	Team	Assists
Alexander-Arnold, Trent	Liverpool FC	10
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	9
Robertson, Andy	Liverpool FC	8
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	7
Jesus, Gabriel	Manchester City	7
Pogba, Paul	Manchester United	7
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	6
Cancelo, Joao	Manchester City	6
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	5
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	5
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	5
James, Reece	Chelsea FC	5
Kovacic, Mateo	Chelsea FC	5
Redmond, Nathan	Southampton FC	5
Mahrez, Riyad	Manchester City	4
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	4
Benrahma, Said	West Ham United	4
Doucoure, Abdoulaye	Everton FC	4
Barnes, Harvey	Leicester City	4
Rice, Declan	West Ham United	4