Eze delighted to make winning return to West London
Ebere Eze was delighted to be the goalscorer who secured Crystal Palace’s safe passage in the Carabao Cup third round against Queens Park Rangers.
The England international, who broke through into senior football with the Hoops before his move to the Eagles, struck midway through the second-half with a deflected effort to quell a fervent Loftus Road, who had witnessed their side cancel out Eddie Nketiah’s early opener.
“That was the main thing as to what we wanted to come here and do today: win, go through to the next round, and put in a performance,” Eze told Palace TV.
“It's a difficult place to come. You can see the atmosphere, it's not easy to play under, but we did what we needed to do, and that's the most important thing.
“That’s what we were saying there [in the changing room]: sometimes games are tough, and you're under it a bit and they're applying pressure, but to come out on the other side with the victory, that's a testament to the character of the boys.”
Eze said of Nketiah, whom he assisted for the first goal: “He’s a top player, I know that.
“If you put him in the right places he's going to finish, and today he's got the first one [for Palace]. I'm sure many will come after this.
On his own goal, he added: “To be fair I wasn't sure if it was going wide or not, but yeah, I'll take the goal man!
“Of course, to come back here and to score is a great feeling, and I enjoyed today which is important as well.
“It’s always a good feeling [to return to Loftus Road]. I came back for a pre-season game [with Palace two years ago] and that was cool as well, but to come back in a competitive one, to see the energy and the atmosphere here, that was a sick feeling. I enjoyed it.
“I’m happy to win, happy to score, and just to show a bit of love to the fans as well, which is a good thing to do.”