TWO stunning strikes from Wilfried Zaha and Jermaine Easter was the difference between the sides as Crystal Palace beat Watford 2-0 at Vicarage Road on Saturday.

In truth this was a hard-fought game and neither side were able to exert their authority on the other.

But Palace boss Dougie Freedman was delighted to see his team display a different side to their game.

“It’s very pleasing to show my players have got that side to their game with clean sheets and being prepared to throw their bodies on the line because I think Watford threw everything at it,” he said.

Palace had settled the quicker and had early chances with Sean Scannell and Glenn Murray going close.

But it was Watford who had the best opportunity of the first half as Joe Garner rattled the post with Palace stopper Julian Speroni beaten.

It was much the same after the break with both sides putting pressure on without looking like getting a goal until a moment of Zaha magic lit up the match on 66 minutes.

The 18-year-old was played through on the right channel and his stunning first time strike flew past Watford keeper Scott Loach right in front of the 2,000 strong travelling support.

Palace’s back line, bolstered by the introduction of Anthony Gardner, stayed resolute despite pressure from Watford and just as if it seemed the game would end 1-0, substitute Easter produced his own candidate for goal of the season.

The Welshman netted from 20-yards with an exquisite curling effort and topped off a satisfying afternoon for Freedman as Palace climbed up to eighth in the Championship table.

“It wasn’t a classic,” he admitted.

“I don’t pretend to say it was but it was a hard-fought win and I thought the difference was the fact we were better in both boxes.

“The standards the guys have set over the past six months is that you’ve got to keep testing yourself and I asked them a few questions.

“Anyone can come here and get a 0-0 but they’ve got to be prepared to win the game and that is what they did, which is fantastic.

“I think it was the energy and commitment to win the game they showed attacking wise and breaking wise, and the desire the back five showed to hold on, and I think we deserved a win.

“It was a good all-round solid performance where two wonderful strikes won us the game and that is the difference for any team in any league.

“If you’ve got people who can score goals, you’ve got half a chance of winning games.”

The Eagles were also boosted by the return of Nathaniel Clyne, who made his first appearance of the season after recovering from a broken foot picked up at Bournemouth during pre-season.

And his manager was delighted with the impact both he and Kagisho Dikgacoi made on their return to the first team.

Freedman explained: “The two of them played fantastically well considering they have not played this season but they’ve had good training.

“They’ve been in full training for a month and I could have played them two weeks ago but we didn’t, we kept them training and thank God we did that because the two of them did well today.”

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