“You can't imagine how happy I was," Zola told the official site. "You could see from my jumping, I looked like a supporter. It was a great finish. It wasn't an easy shot because he didn't have an angle. He was running straight and he hit it perfectly. It was great goal and a great result."
Following the strike with only 13 minutes left of the game, Parker and a number of other players ran the length of the touchline to embrace their manager and show their support for him.
"It was very gratifying,” added Zola. “It shows that despite all the problems, we have always been together. We have had a lot of stick and a lot of problems but we have dealt with them together.”