Wilfried Zaha praises Crystal Palace 'dream' Chelsea victory... while Blues skipper Gary Cahill slams lacklustre performance: 'We played poorly'

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Wilfried Zaha declared Crystal Palace's shock win over Chelsea as the start of their fightback after a 'dream' return to the Premier League for the winger.

Palace were expected to be beaten for an eighth consecutive time but saw off Antonio Conte's champions courtesy of a Cesar Azpilicueta own goal and a second-half strike by Zaha.

It was Zaha's first appearance since August following a knee injury and after inspiring them in their 2-1 victory, the 24-year-old said: 'It's a dream, managing to beat Chelsea at home.

Wilfried Zaha labels Saturday's win over Chelsea as the start of Crystal Palace's fightback

'Definitely, this is the start of a fightback – now we've got more confidence we can start to climb up the table.

'I'm so tired but it was all worth it for the win. We had to win. You never know in football – we had a game plan, worked hard and just took our chances.

'The first goal was massive for our confidence – it was a massive boost for the team. My goal was at the right time too, because Chelsea were coming back. I'm buzzing to have scored it.'

Palace have no strikers at their disposal due to injuries and Zaha added: 'Me and Andros Townsend aren't strikers so we run all over the gaff, but the boss told us that if one had the ball the other needs to get himself into the box.'

Zaha scored the winner in Roy Hodgson's first win since taking over as Palace boss

The defeat left Chelsea skipper Gary Cahill scratching his head in bemusement

Chelsea's Gary Cahill added: 'The performance was not up to standard. We played poorly. For whatever reason, I have no idea.

'We have many international players who go away but that's part and parcel and we need to be livelier.

'Today was the basics and it was unlike us. At this moment in time we aren't having he best of fortune, especially with injuries. Today we lost Victor Mosses.

'We are in a difficult moment. It's not a huge squad.'  

While the defender claimed his team-mates are not having the 'best fortune' of late