Fine individual goals from Wilfried Zaha and Jermaine Easter fired Crystal Palace to a comfortable three points against Watford at Vicarage Road.
Zaha’s volley from an acute angle for the opener finished off a flowing move in the 66th minute to set Palace on their way to their first set of back to back away wins in the league since December 2008.
Jermaine Easter weighed in with a 25 yard strike in stoppage time to sweeten the scoreline as the Eagles staged their own “Goal of the Month” competition.
The Welsh striker’s cameo from the bench had Palace boss Dougie Freedman upbeat about the depth of his playing contingent for the demands of the Championship season; "I'm not sure I have a first 11 at the moment but I feel I've got a good 15 or 16 experienced players with a few good youngsters who can all come in and do a job. The days were you can have 13 players play for you all season are gone which is why we need a good squad."
“We have added Glen Murray, Wilfried Zaha is chipping in with goals and with the performances of Sean Scannell, then all of a sudden we are turning good performances away from home into goals and winning games.
"I think that was the difference today. It was a good all round solid display with two wonderful strikes to win us the game and that is pretty much the difference. And it is the difference in any league. If you score goals like that then you have a chance to win any game.
"It wasn't a classic match, it was a very hard-fought game, but we deserved to win as in both boxes we were just a little bit better.”
Freedman then went on to play-down Palace’s lofty position; "I haven't looked at the league table and won't either. Whatever will happen will happen but all I want to is get a bit of stability around the place. All we can do is keep working hard and we'll worry about where were at the end of the season."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here