Sunday afternoon saw Palace rediscover some of their mojo they possessed last season, as they held an in-form Arsenal side 2-2 at Selhurst Park, in what was a thoroughly entertaining and encouraging performance from the Eagles. However, it was Wilfried Zaha who, once again, unfairly dominated post-match discussion.
The tricky winger was brought down in the penalty area by Granit Xhaka, leading to Martin Atkinson pointing to the spot and Milivojevic converting for his and Palace’s second. This proved to be the final goal of the game. Despite Xhaka publically admitting to fouling Wilf, opposition fans were furious with the Ivorian, labelling him a ‘cheat’ and disputing that the penalty decision was incorrect.
This is an all too familiar story for Palace fans: Zaha being fouled and still being accused of ‘diving’. It seems to happen almost every week, and as these accusations pile up, the agenda against him becomes more and more prominent. Those of us who watch him week in, week out, however, know that Wilf is not a cheat at all. He’s just bloody good at football, too good for many defenders. So where has this false reputation come from? I’ve created a timeline of events which go some way to showing how and why Zaha is known for ‘diving’, despite him being a very honest player.
27th May 2013 – Palace 1-0 Watford (AET)
Palace win promotion to the Premier League thanks to a Kevin Phillips penalty. Unsurprisingly, it is Zaha who is fouled in the box by Marco Cassetti. It’s a clear penalty, and sparks no debate in the media. However Watford fans, probably looking for a scapegoat despite their deserved defeat, turn on Zaha and accuse him of going down easily. 
27th September 2015 – Watford 0-1 Palace
Watford again? You’ll soon notice a general theme here. Zaha is fouled in almost identical fashion right at the end of this close encounter, Cabaye scores the penalty and Palace win 1-0. Watford fans are furious with Zaha again. Flores, the Watford boss at the time, says he’s ‘not sure’ about the decision. Pardew, however, backs the decision, as do all pundits analysing the game.
3rd October 2015 – Palace 2-0 West Brom
Just a week later, Palace comfortably beat West Brom at home, with Zaha winning yet another penalty. Replays suggest that Zaha goes down before contact is made, however (once again) it is widely viewed as a penalty and Cabaye (once again) converts. To date, this is probably the closest Wilf has ever come to diving, and even so, I would say it’s still a penalty. Brunt, the defender, lunges in, and all Wilf does is anticipate the oncoming contact. It’s certainly a foul.
24th October 2015 – Leicester 1-0 Palace
Playing against the eventual champions, Zaha is booked for diving with the score at 1-0 after a clash with Christian Fuchs. Replays suggest Zaha is harshly treated, as there is clear contact between Wilf and Fuchs which was unavoidable for the winger. BBC Match of the Day commentator says that “the more you see it, the more you think Zaha may have been harshly treated”. Certainly not a dive (an opinion widely agreed on), but the decision stands and Wilf has his first booking for simulation.
28th November 2015 – Palace 5-1 Newcastle
Just over a month later, Zaha receives another booking for diving in a comprehensive win against Newcastle. Footage of this dive is unavailable anywhere (as far as I’m aware) but Wilf claims he slipped and that he wasn’t looking for a penalty. Newcastle fans are furious with him, and Zaha now has 2 bookings for diving in just 5 games.
26th December 2016 – Watford 1-1 Palace
Another Watford game, another Wilfried Zaha controversy. Having already been awarded one penalty in the game, Palace are denied another as Mark Clattenburg (the most hated man at Crystal Palace) books Zaha despite him being clearly fouled by Britos in the area. Match reports up and down the country state that Zaha shouldn’t have been booked and that a penalty should have been awarded. Harry the Hornet (the second most hated man at Crystal Palace) launches himself onto the floor in front of Wilf at full-time, incensing the winger. This particular incident nationalises the agenda against Wilf. It’s still not true.
9th December 2017 – Palace 2-2 Bournemouth
A game which will forever be remembered for ‘that Benteke penalty’, Zaha wins 2 spot-kicks, both of which are put under the microscope by mainstream media. This particular season marks the first where a player can be retrospectively banned for diving, meaning that no players can get away with it anymore. Zaha isn’t banned, meaning that he categorically did not dive. This does not halt the debate. If he dived, he would have been banned. He was not.
31st December 2017 – Palace 0-0 City
In a phenomenal performance and result for the Eagles against a seemingly unstoppable City side, Luka misses a last minute penalty after Zaha is pushed by Raheem Sterling. Ex-Premier League referee Graham Poll (a ref who was forced to retire after issuing 3 YELLOW CARDS TO 1 PLAYER IN A MATCH) claims Zaha ‘should be banned’ following the incident, sparking national newspapers to lay into the winger. Chris Sutton (the 3rd most hated man at Palace) describes it as ‘the worst dive of the season’. Once again, Zaha escapes punishment. It is not a dive. End of.
21st April 2018 – Watford 0-0 Palace
For the 3rd season in a row, Zaha is embroiled in a penalty scandal at Vicarage Road. Appearing to be fouled by ex-Palace defender Adrian Mariappa, referee Chris Kavanagh books Wilf for diving and gives into the Watford fans who have been on Wilf’s back from the word go. After the game, Mariappa admits to fouling Zaha and says he should have been awarded a penalty. He isn’t, and for the 3rd time Wilf is incorrectly booked for diving. On Match of the Day, Kevin Kilbane launches an astonishing attack on Zaha, appearing to blame the winger for getting fouled on numerous occasions, and even stating he should have been ‘sent off’ for pushing Abdoulaye Doucoure, despite the French midfielder running 50 yards to call Wilf a diver and push him, after Wilf was fouled in the box earlier in the game (again, this wasn’t given). The media agenda snowballs.
21st October 2018 – Everton 2-0 Palace
Luka misses another penalty won by Zaha, there is literally 0 debate as to whether it’s penalty as Coleman clearly catches Zaha. Commentators, pundits and fans all don’t even bother discussing it. However, Chris Sutton tweets “It was a penalty for Palace but did Zaha have to go down??” What does that even mean Chris? At this point, the agenda is genuinely astonishing.
28th October – Palace 2-2 Arsenal
The aforementioned incident involving Xhaka who, may I remind you, admits to fouling the winger. On national television. TWICE. Yet, the debate still goes on.
Some other notable stats: Zaha was the most fouled player in the Premier League in the 2015/16 and the 2016/17, he was the 5th most fouled player last season despite missing nearly a third of the season through injury and this season he is the most fouled player so far. In just over 3 seasons, he’s been fouled 317 times (stats taken from Squawka). On Sunday, Zaha was fouled 7 times in the 90 minutes, which is a record in a Premier League match this season.
Wilf has won 10 penalties for Palace in the Premier League (only Jamie Vardy has won more in that time), but quite frankly it should have been more. As this timeline clearly shows, the agenda against Wilf is embarrassing and it has to stop.
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