The Ivory Coast international stood tall while the rest of his Palace team-mates and their opponents took the knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, as has become customary across sporting contests globally.

The 28-year-old revealed last month when speaking at the Financial Times' Business of Football summit that he would no longer perform the gesture against racial injustice, which has been followed by Premier League players, officials and staff since June.

"My decision to stand at kick-off has been public knowledge for a couple of weeks now," Zaha said via a statement released prior to kick-off.

"There is no right or wrong decision, but for me personally I feel kneeling has just become a part of the pre-match routine and at the moment it doesn't matter whether we kneel or stand, some of us still continue to receive abuse.

"I know there is a lot of work being done behind the scenes at the Premier League and other authorities to make change, and I fully respect that, and everyone involved. I also fully respect my team-mates and players at other clubs who continue to take the knee.

"As a society, I feel we should be encouraging better education in schools, and social media companies should be taking stronger action against people who abuse others online – not just footballers.

"I now just want to focus on football and enjoy being back playing on the pitch. I will continue to stand tall."

Once the action began, Luka Milivojevic scored the only goal from the penalty spot to plunge the Baggies ever closer to a return to the Championship.

Sam Allardyce's men remain eight points adrift of safety in 19th with just nine games left to save themselves.