Wilfried Zaha returns from injury to torment Huddersfield in Crystal Palace win

Wilfried Zaha is a difficult man to ignore. For Crystal Palace, he appears to be an impossible player to replace.

His return from injury brought a superb individual goal that helped Palace end a run of three consecutive defeats, beating Huddersfield 1-0 away from home, yet there was fuel too for those who believe he has a tendency towards theatrics.

If Zaha thought that the resignation of Watford’s mascot this week might make his life easier at Premier League away grounds, he may need to think again.

Gareth Evans, the man who occupied Harry the Hornet’s costume until Thursday, is not the only person to make public his feeling that Zaha is a diver.

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He was joined by around 20,000 Huddersfield fans at the John Smith’s Stadium by responding to a Mathias Jorgensen trip by writhing around like a performance dance student.

There was no doubt that Zaha was fouled; it is just that he does not help his case when he turns on the theatrics. The home fans certainly saw it that way, and booed his every subsequent touch.

They did break off to cheer when the Palace winger was booked himself minutes later, for a poorly-timed challenge that sent Florent Hadergjonaj flying; their barracking showed no sign of easing up.

He was not the only Palace figure at the centre of a controversy, though; captain Luka Milivojevic escaped with a talking to from referee Lee Mason after barging into the back of Steve Mounie during the first half, while James McArthur had reason to feel nervous when he brought down Rajiv van La Parra when already on a yellow card.

Yet if Palace were willing to be physical, they were also sturdy enough to frustrate a Huddersfield side who too often lacked pace and guile in attack. The one first-half chance they created came when they did speed things up a touch; Aaron Mooy’s sublime crossfield pass gave Chris Lowe space on the left to deliver a cross that Mounie headed over.

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The Beninese forward had reason to regret that miss when Zaha produced his moment of brilliance seven minutes before the break. The winger was around 40 yards from goal, out on the left touchline, when he received Jordan Ayew’s pass, but then showed the quickness of feet and thought for which he is renowned, skipping past two Huddersfield defenders as he cut inside before steering a beautiful shot around Jonas Lossl and into the far corner.

Palace had to do a lot of defending after half-time, with Huddersfield unlucky not to equalise when Aaron Mooy volleyed Lowe’s square pass against the post from the edge of the penalty area, before goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey shovelled away Hadergjonaj’s follow-up as the visitors failed to clear.

Hodgson’s side did threaten on the break as the game opened up; Zaha skied one good chance, McArthur another. James Tomkins, the centre-back returning from injury, bundled in a corner, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on Lossl. Then the Ivorian, given space in which to run, threatened to repeat his first-half brilliance. This time, though, Jorgensen kept his eye on the ball and timed the block well.

As it turned out, one moment of inspiration from Zaha was all Palace needed to win here. If he can keep finding the magic, Palace will not have to worry about relegation.

For Huddersfield, who have scored just five league goals since the end of February, and none at home since April, the picture is rather bleaker, although little went their way. Phil Billing thought he had volleyed an equaliser deep in stoppage time, but it was deflected wide.