Awards

Zaha wonder strike voted February 2022 Budweiser Goal of the Month

14 Mar 2022

Crystal Palace winger earns February award for his brilliant curling strike against Norwich

Wilfried Zaha has won February 2022's Budweiser Goal of the Month award for his magnificent curling strike against Norwich City.

The Crystal Palace star collected the ball on the left wing and cut inside, beating defender Przemyslaw Placheta before unleashing a whipped effort into the far corner from just outside the penalty area.

"Getting the recognition for it is the best thing ever," Zaha said. "To create a yard and get a shot off, really, that was the only thing that was going through my mind.

"I was just assessing what I could do because there were two players in front of me and I just managed to get a yard and, yeah, got my shot off."

It is the first time that Zaha has won the award, and his second monthly award overall after being named EA SPORTS Player of the Month in April 2018.

He is the first Palace player to win the award since Andros Townsend in December 2018, whose incredible volley against Manchester City was also named 2018/19 Goal of the Season.

Hard work paying off

Zaha's award winner was one of two occasions in February when he cut in to find the corner with a ferocious effort.

He is now up to 56 goals in the Premier League, well clear as Palace's all-time top scorer in the competition, and he is proud that years of hard work is paying off.

"I was just labelled someone who had no end product and it’s been years of practising," he said. "Obviously, now, it seems like it’s overnight, ‘He does it all the time’, but it’s years of practising.

"Obviously, I’m just happy to be receiving the award that I received and I’m working hard and it’s showing. That’s it."

His strike was chosen ahead of seven other contenders by a panel of experts combined with a public vote.