Eze reflects on challenging season as Vieira sings his praise
Eze’s work to regain his pre-injury form has been widely acknowledged by his teammates and manager
Nigeria born Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze scored a well-taken half-volley in Crystal Palace’s 2-1 fightback against Southampton on Saturday afternoon, setting his side up to take three points from St Mary’s after going behind early on.
The Palace midfielder struck from 15 yards shortly after the hour-mark, seemingly handing his side a well-earned point before Wilfried Zaha secured two more with a dying-seconds winner.
Speaking with Palace TV post-match, Eze reflected on a rich reward towards the end of a challenging personal season.
“It was a big moment,” he said. “I’m so grateful to God that the opportunity came today and I was able to contribute and help the team today. It was a huge moment for me, my family and everyone that’s supported me on this journey - because it’s been mad.
“I think it’s been a long season, having to wait for minutes, having to be patient, having to keep working hard. It’s been difficult at times.
“It felt good, I feel like I’m getting back into it. Obviously, it’s still going to take time, still needs more matches, more time on the field to get back to myself. But every single moment I’m so grateful.”
Eze’s work to regain his pre-injury form has been widely acknowledged by his teammates and manager, and the No.10 said his fellow players are able to share his elation alongside him:
“The feeling is strong because they all know what I’ve had to go through and what I’ve been doing to get back. It’s a big moment for me, but I can imagine for them the feeling they’re feeling for me must be crazy as well”.
Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira also praised Eze after Saturday's comeback win over Southampton at St Mary's.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Vieira was full of praise for Eze as well as the Palace medical team who he said had done their job perfectly to carefully manage his return to the fore.
He said: "With the medical department, we had a really good plan about how long it's going to take for him to get back to his best and we didn't want him to ever step back. He will say to you that it takes longer than he wanted to. But at the end, what is important is that today he is capable of playing game after game and is capable of playing 90 minutes with no reaction after games and this is good. So we are pleased with the time that he takes to get him where he is today.
"It was a long journey for him and I'm really pleased for him because being out for seven months is really challenging. He is a player who loves football. He likes to be on the field, he loves playing the game and he loves playing football."
