Oliver Glasner lauded Eberechi Eze after he scored and assisted for Crystal Palace on his Loftus Road return in a 2-1 victory over QPR in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
The England international, who joined Palace from QPR in 2020, was welcomed with a shirt before kick-off as he set-up Eddie Nketiah for his first goal for the club.
Eze starred in the second half and his 64th minute strike, after Sam Field’s earlier equaliser, helped Palace book their place in the fourth round.
Glasner said: “Who’s a better player than Eze? For me he’s absolutely top, if he was luckier this season he would have five or six goals.
“He’s always dangerous because he has the quality and ability at 1-1, he’s such an unbelievable finisher, in some situations he can improve, he’s a guy who can always score and he’s someone who everyone likes.
“This is why he’s on the pitch because he’s able to score goals.”
Nketiah opened his Palace account when a smashed finish from a tight angle crept through the legs of Rangers keeper Joe Walsh.
Glasner talked up the forward’s influence since his reported £30 million deadline day move from Arsenal last month.
“Eddie’s showed it before he joined, he can score goals,” he added.
“In this system and all the players coming into situations where they can score, he scored the first today. It’s the patterns we have where players who come into this position, then we need players who can finish and he did really well.
“He’s smart at finding space, he can play nine or 10, he can play around the striker because he’s smart and has such a good feeling. He can make a run in behind from the opposite side and wait for the cut-back.”
Field smashed home after 53 minutes to equalise for the Sky Bet Championship hosts.
Manager Marti Cifuentes was proud of his side’s efforts in west London.
He said: “We’re here to win matches and today we didn’t. We have a feeling their first goal had a big part on the development of the game, it’s a goal we can’t concede and we needed to be better than we did.
“The feeling was despite the slow start, we can put pressure and challenge a Premier League side
“I’m proud of the guys, it showed they’re ready to contribute and fight for this club.”