Pardew revels in Palace romp at Sunderland
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew insisted that his side's thumping 4-1 victory over Sunderland could and should have been even more convincing.
An 11-minute second-half hat-trick from Yannick Bolasie, plus a sixth goal in as many games from Glenn Murray, helped Palace canter to victory at the Stadium of Light and maintain their impressive resurgence since Pardew took charge in January.
"It was an emphatic win and the scoreline didn't even do us justice," said a jubilant Pardew.
"We had so many chances. We were great and that's seven away wins out of eight games - at a professional level that's unbelievable.
"Our fans were singing 'it's like watching Brazil', and it was today.
"We were terrific and we caused Sunderland a lot of problems."
Following a low-key first-half, the game exploded into life early in the second as Murray headed the visitors in front on 47 minutes before teeing up Bolasie to make it 2-0.
The Democratic Republic of Congo winger then grabbed his second and Palace's third when he out-muscled John O'Shea to latch onto a long ball from Mile Jedinak and calmly lobbed the advancing Costel Pantilimon.
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Bolasie duly completed his hat-trick on the hour-mark, courtesy of another assist from the irrepressible Murray, prompting a mass exodus from the home fans.
Those that did stay until the end saw Connor Wickham grab a last-minute consolation, but it did nothing to take the shine off another impressive away performance from the South Londoners.
"We never looked in any danger," said Pardew.
"This performance won't get many headlines as we're mid-table but it was an outstanding performance."