Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has hailed Ghanian striker Jordan Ayew for his performance in the Eagles' 2-1 win over Manchester United on Saturday.
Palace took the lead courtesy Ayew's strike in the first half against the run of play, latching on to Jeffrey Schlupp's flick-on and coolly converting Palace's first goal of the campaign.
Speaking after the game, the former Liverpool manager lavished praises on the 27-year-old's display at Old Trafford.
"There was no doubt in my mind I was going to bring him back for this game. Basically, he had a very specific job to do apart from of course being a good centre-forward, holding the ball up, beating players when he can and scoring goals," Hodgson said.
"He had another very important job to do, making certain Paul Pogba couldn't come deep and spread passes all around the field and he did that exceptionally well too."
Ayew put up an assured performance against Everton in the league opener at Selhurst Park but was dropped as Wilfried Zaha returned to face Sheffield United.
Hodgson says the Ghanaian was right to feel aggrieved.
"I would probably describe his performances as more than decent. I think they've been very good. I think he was unlucky to lose his place when I wanted to play two front players against Sheffield United and I chose Wilf to partner Christian Benteke rather than him," he added.
"I think he was very unfortunate to lose his place and I think he was entitled to say 'you should have kept me in the team because I played so well against Everton.'"