Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has heaped praise on the Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha.

The Italian explained that Chelsea struggled to deal with him when the two sides met over the weekend. He also added that the Blues should not have given him the space and time to cause problems.

He said: “Zaha is very fast. Sometimes, I have to say that, especially in the first 20 minutes in the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second half, we were not in good positions under the ball line in the offensive phase. We were in trouble because we gave them, and especially him, spaces to attack. So it’s not easy to run with Zaha in a long race.”

Zaha had a good game despite ending up on the losing side.

The Crystal Palace star has been impressive for a while now and there is no doubt that he is one of the best wingers in the Premier League.

He will be delighted to hear these comments from world class managers like Sarri.

Despite his form, Palace are in a bit of a slump right now and it will be interesting to see if he can lift them out of this phase.

Roy Hodgson will be hoping to avoid a relegation battle this season and he will need players like Zaha to secure a respectable finish.