Patrick Vieira hails Eberechi Eze’s ‘different class’ display for Crystal Palace against Liverpool

Patrick Vieira heaped praise on Eberechi Eze for his midfield display as Crystal Palace earned an impressive point at Anfield.

Although there will be some Palace frustration that the prize was not three times as good, after Wilfried Zaha put the Eagles in front against Liverpool and Darwin Nunez was then sent off just before the hour mark, there was plenty of encouragement for the visitors to take back to south London.

Even with Luis Diaz’s sensational equaliser, it was a strong result for Palace, who were set on their way when Eze drifted into space and played a perfect pass in behind for Zaha to run onto and finish calmly.

Eze managed less than 600 minutes of Premier League football last season, due to injury, and Vieira hopes that he will now be able to show his quality with a sustained run in the side.

“Really pleased, Eze in that action showed his talent,” Vieira said.

“People forget sometimes that he was injured for quite a while last year and he’s getting to his best. What he needs now is to play games.

“I think today he was a different class.”

It was a more passive set-up from Palace than has usually been the case under Vieira, with a back five shielded by four in midfield and Zaha left to cut a largely lonely figure up front.

However, the gameplan worked on a number of occassions as the Eagles enjoyed real success on the counter, leaving their manager proud of the display.

“There’s a lot of teams that when they come to play Liverpool, they’ll be happy with a point,” Vieira said.

“I have to say we played a really good game, of course I’m pleased with the point. Overall we kept our discipline, in a really tough place to come and try to perform.

“We created some really good chances in a difficult period, stuck together and defended really well. I’m really happy with how the team played.”