Wharton: It's probably the worst shot I've had!
Adam Wharton joked that he'll keep having "bad shots" after he broke his Palace goal duck by finding the net in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Brentford.
The England international produced the moment of the match not long into the second-half, when his low shot managed to squirm under Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, celebrating with a much-discussed backflip to mark the occasion in style.
It wasn't the cleanest strike at goal he's had since arriving at the Eagles in January 2024, but it was his first effort to have ended up in the back of the net.
Although the Bees later equalised to mean the match finished 2-2, the goal capped another fine performance from Wharton, who ran the midfield for large periods, alongside the excellent Daichi Kamada.
The man himself said after the game that his maiden Palace strike was long overdue.
"It has been a long time coming," he told Sky Sports. "I'm delighted. It's a shame we fell short at the end to get the three points but it's a good feeling [to score].
"A bit too many [games to wait for a first goal] I should have scored before.
"It's probably the worst shot I've had! But it has gone in and I'll take it.
"I'll keep having bad shots and hope it goes in. We take it and it was a good performance.
"We have had a lot of games, we were getting tired, but proud of the performance against a team pushing for Europe.
"A draw is not a terrible result and we're looking at the performances. They are the most importantly thing right now [with a European final on the horizon]."
Wharton and his teammates now have one more Premier League game to play, at home to Arsenal next Sunday, before they can turn attentions fully towards the UEFA Conference League Final in Leipzig.
"We're not deciding the title next week," he added when asked about Palace's final game of the league season. "There have been 37 games this season. We have another game a few days after [the Conference League final].
"We're not looking at trying to beat them so that they don't win. That is none of our concern.
"We are focusing on ourselves and making sure we're in the right position for the following Wednesday."