Wilfried Zaha says Aaron Wan-Bissaka was the last Manchester United player he wanted chasing him down after his former teammate foiled what could have been a dramatic late win for Crystal Palace.
United took the lead late in the first-half through Bruno Fernandes, who rifled home after being picked out unmarked in the box by Christian Eriksen.
Palace battled back in the second-half and equalised through a stunning free kick from Michael Olise in the 91st minute.
Casemiro missed a glorious chance to restore United’s lead moments later but Palace had their own opportunity to wrap up all three points, with Zaha bursting forward on the counter attack.
The Ivory Coast international drove into the box but just as he was about to pull the trigger, Wan-Bissaka made a superb last-ditch tackle to hook the ball to safety with the final whistle blown seconds later as the game finished 1-1.
Wan-Bissaka spent a season-and-a-half in the Palace first-team alongside Zaha prior to his £50million move to Old Trafford in 2019 with the Eagles star blown away by the challenge from his friend and former teammate.
‘Any other player…’ Zaha told Sky Sports. ‘As I’m running through, I had a little look back and I thought ‘oh my God…it’s Aaron’.
‘He’s the only one that can do a scoop tackle. So it was a great tackle.’
The result gives Palace a much-needed boost having lost four of their last five games – three of those coming on home turf.
‘We know we’ve got the talent and the team. And one thing that the gaffer’s piped on about is just contesting the games and the talent just shows through in the end – like today, we managed to get a point,’ Zaha said.
‘That was the difference today – just never-say-die attitude and every 50-50 going in at 100 per cent. We got what we deserved. We might have even won at the end.
‘That performance today, the fans deserved that. I’m buzzing with the lads really, like we all worked so hard today.
‘Obviously we’re happy with the point and it just gives us confidence going into the next games.’
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