Alan Pardew said even the world's best defenders would struggle to thwart Christian Benteke after the towering forward scored his first goal for the club in the 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough on Saturday.
The club-record £27million arrival from Liverpool put Palace on course to a first win of the Premier League season, rising high in the Middlesbrough box to head the Eagles in front at the Riverside Stadium.
Wilfried Zaha, handed his first start since attempting to force through a summer move to Tottenham, sent over a deep cross and Benteke was on hand to nod the Eagles in front from six yards.
"When Christian's coming round the back like that I don't think there's any defender that can stop him," said Pardew after the game.
Daniel Ayala cancelled out Benteke's header just before the break, but Zaha capitalised on a defensive error as Palace re-established their lead shortly after the interval.
Despite dominating much of the first half, the Eagles sat deeper and invited pressure from their hosts as the game edged towards the final whistle and Pardew conceded the game had not mapped out how he'd hoped.
The Palace boss added: "Boro showed great maturity. Ramirez made a difference when he came on. I can only tell you that was a tough Premier League game.
"The game plan was to do more than hit them on the break, but once you get a goal it can some times come to that."
