Saturday 12 December 2015 18:53, UK
Alan Pardew said a Yohan Cabaye "masterclass" was to thank for Crystal Palace's 1-0 win over Southampton at Selhurst Park.
The French international scored what turned out to be the winner in the 38th minute when he converted a Yannick Bolasie pull-back from close range.
It was the midfielder's fifth goal of the season for the Eagles after his summer move from French champions PSG and his manager was happy with his overall contribution in the victory.
"It was a masterclass from Yohan Cabaye," Pardew said. "If you want to see a midfielder in the Premier League passing, heading, tackling, being frantic when you need to be, he did everything today."
Palace could have extended their lead were it not for a string of superb saves from Southampton's goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga. Shane Long also squandered a late one-on-one and Pardew admitted he thought the Saints might sneak an equaliser.
"I wouldn't say we dominated it for the whole period," Pardew added. "The last 10 minutes were a bit frantic, we probably could have handled that situation a little better I thought. Overall, I thought we deserved to win. We did enough today, although both keepers have had to pull off some really good saves to keep the scoreline at 1-0."
Southampton never got a foothold in the game and were dominated by Palace wingers Wilfried Zaha and, particularly, man of the match Bolasie. Pardew said the pair have developed into more complete players.
"They were terrific today. Wilf (Zaha), more defensively than offensively. He had some great moments but defensively he was superb and he's definitely improved that side of his game since I've been here. Yala (Yannick Bolasie) is just a player who is very difficult to control. He showed that today with little moments he had in the game that were terrific."
On Zaha specifically, Pardew said the forward's concentration has improved since his return to the club from an ill-fated spell at Manchester United.
"The most important thing for Wilf is concentration and that's improved - his concentration on what he has to do and what his role in the team is. It's not just about being offensively good.
"You need to be disciplined and show all the other characteristics that he's going to need if he ever gets in the England team and it's away to Italy."
