Saturday 11 April 2015 22:42, UK
Crystal Palace players lined up to pay tribute to team-mate Yannick Bolasie after he became the first Eagles player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in the win over Sunderland.
Bolasie struck three times in 11 minutes after the break to set Palace on their way to a 4-1 win at the Stadium of Light, bringing Dick Advocaat’s side tumbling back to earth after their derby win over Newcastle last week.
Glenn Murray gave the away side the lead three minutes after half time with his sixth goal in as many games, before Bolasie took over with a quick-fire treble.
Even though Connor Wickham scored a late consolation for the Black Cats, it was Bolasie’s day and team mates Scott Dann and Mile Jedinak were quick to praise the winger.
Dann said: “Today he was unplayable. I think that’s (scoring goals) what he’s been missing more than anything. He’s got the lot.
“When he’s on form, he’s unstoppable at times and all the lads are delighted to see him score a hat-trick. Hopefully he can now carry that on and score some more goals.”
Jedinak said the whole squad was thrilled for Bolasie and also paid tribute to the spirit within the group of players.
He said: “I’m so proud of him - he played a different role today. He excelled at it and he was a constant threat for them. Him and Glenn were a great partnership up there and they caused havoc supported by Wilfried (Zaha) and Jason (Puncheon) and then Yaya (Sanogo) when he came on.
“That’s what you need; you need the whole squad. And as you could see with the celebrations for every goal everyone is so happy for Yannick. We all enjoyed it together.”
Dann also praised manager Alan Pardew and put the club’s remarkable rise up the Premier League table down to his appointment in January.
“We’ve come a long way from when the manager first came in,” Dann said. “We were down near the bottom – probably one win in 12 games and he’s come in and it’s been a dramatic change.
“He’s brought in his own ideas. All the lads have bought into it and we’ve gone from strength-to-strength in each game. There’s a belief in the changing room that we can keep pushing on.”
