The Ivorian was yet to play a Premier League minute this season, but scored twice at Selhurst Park to force his way back into the manager’s thinking.
“I’m so happy for Yaya Toure because he’s a really nice guy,” said Pep. “His weight is perfect now and there is no doubts about his quality.
“His personality and his quality are there to see - he can play many positions. I’m so happy for him and his family. We now have one more man that can help us achieve our targets this season.
“The last two months he was amazing in the training sessions. He’s behaviour was absolutely perfect. His team-mates love him. He’s another guy who will help us with the rotation in the team.”
was happy with his team’s resilience and pleased with the defending late in the game.
“I know how difficult it is coming to Crystal Palace and getting a win,” he said.
“I am still in the process of adapting to this league. The games are intensive; teams play consecutively but they have a lot of quality, too.
“As for Crystal Palace, what they do, they do really well. We didn’t play brilliantly in the way we want to play, but we adapted in the way we needed to play here.
“We defended well in the final few minutes - better than the last game. I didn’t think it would slip away after they equalised, but it can happen.
“We scored with not long left and in that moment, we were playing well. Of course, you think we might draw but then you think of what we have to do to get better, and we did.
“With this intensity, we’re going to play in the Champions League but it’s so difficult and complicated with all the games. But we will try.”
Pep also confirmed Vincent Kompany came off because he was suffering from blurred vision, adding: “Vincent had a problem with his head and he didn’t see well during the game. When that happen, you have to be careful.”
