By Andrew McSteen and Sunni Upal

The latest member of the Palace 100 Club defender Joel Ward was all smiles last night after his side defeated champions Manchester City under the lights at Selhurst Park.

Following the 2-1 victory, the right-back believes a top half Premier League finish this season is still possible with the team currently sitting in 11th with seven games left.

The 25-year-old was an integral part of the win as strikes from Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon sealed the three points to put the Eagles on 39 points and all but safe for another season.

But the former Portsmouth player was quick to praise the whole team rather than to single out individuals.

“Everyone put a huge shift and played well tonight,” said Ward.

“Manchester City are a world-class team but we stopped them, made it difficult and that was right down from Murray at the top.

“The way we defended and stayed as a unit was the key to the win.

“We knew they were going to throw bodies forward and we could hit them on the break and that’s what we’ve done.”

Ward acknowledged City had bossed the game for long periods, something Palace were prepared for.

He explained: “Playing against these sorts of teams, that is sometimes how it is going to be because they’re going to control and dictate play.

“But we showed a great account of ourselves this evening.

“You expect that they’re going to go through the game having a lot of possession because they’ve got world class players and that’s why they’re at that club.

“Their midfield is fantastic but we worked hard all week on stopping at the source, staying in our holes but also gauging them as well - we did that well and coped with the danger.

“All credit to us really with the way we defended, stayed controlled, stood them up and stopped them – we did well on the break and got the goals we deserved.”

With Yaya Toure scoring to pull City back to 1-2 in the 78th minute, the closing stages were fraught with danger as Palace rode their luck with a clear handball from Murray in the area missed by officials.

But the Eagles stood strong and the Hampshire-born defender was keen to highlight how Palace won the match rather than their opponents losing it, making the century of appearances in the red and blue all the more memorable.

Ward said: “It’s always nice to beat the big teams, they’re kind of ‘bonus’ games.

“But we want to carry on going, getting higher and higher in the league - we want to better last season. 

“We play with freedom, have found a bit of form and done well. We are not looking backwards, we are looking forwards and I think that momentum is carrying us on.

“It is an incredible feeling to get one over on Manchester City which we haven’t done before. It was great to do that, and also on my 100th game for the club was fantastic.” 

 Under the gaze of the Croydon-born England manager Roy Hodgson, who Ward met and briefly spoke with on the sidelines on his way out long after the match had finished. two English strikers scored memorable goals for the famous victory.

And the accomplished defender was more than happy to add praise to the duo.

“Punch has got that magic in him,” said Ward.

“He is a great player, uses the ball really well and brings that quality to the team.

“It was fantastic for him to get on the scoresheet.

“He is a great player and uses the ball really well and brings that quality to the team as well.

“With his goals to games ratio, Murray has proven himself again.

“He is a fantastic striker and a handful for any defence.

“The quality in Puncheon’s free-kick and the quality for the first goal was fantastic.”

Alan Pardew and his squad go into the final games of their campaign all but mathematically safe from relegation.

But Ward insisted they will not be putting their feet up thinking about the summer holidays and is looking forward to producing more upsets in the final few games which include matches against Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool.

“We are not safe yet,” he said.

“The main goal is to catch people in front of us, to enjoy playing and play with that freedom to express ourselves.

“We are on 39 points now and looking upwards and there’s no reason why we can’t finish in the top half.

“We have a great run of games to put a stamp on it and the last four games are going to be very tough but we’ve shown we can put in a massive performance against big teams.”

The defender was also keen to single out the manager for praise after turning the club’s fortunes around since arriving from Newcastle.

Ward said: “It has been brilliant (with Pardew). He has a very clear direction in the way we’re going and the way we’re playing.

“He wants to get the ball down, play and create an identity for us and that’s what we’re doing.

“We have got a unique bunch of lads and the team spirit is fantastic.”

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