Throughout his career, Ayew’s tendency to impact matches late on has persisted: 19 of his 82 career goals have fallen in the first-half, with 62 in the second.
“I don't know why,” he smiled. “When I'm on the pitch, I think it's my mindset.
“I'm just a different animal. The way I psych myself and I make sure that I have 100 minutes to give, and I make sure that after this 100 minutes, when I get off the pitch, I have no regrets. Whether we win, we lose, I have no regrets. I make sure I give my all.
“Having a background of footballers, like my dad and ex-players, they always tell you as a striker you always have to stay focused and stay in the game because you never know when your chance will come. So that's the mindset I have and that's the mentality I always use.
“I don't know why it's always at the last minute but sometimes the thing is that in the Premier League, especially for a team like Palace, I feel like the first-half is always even. It's always tight. Sometimes we do score in the first-half but most of our goals, I think, are more in the second-half.”
Is that mentality a reason why an on-field smile from Ayew is seen as something as a rarity? “I try to [smile]! It's something I try to work on because even the females in my family – my mum, my aunties – it's something that they complain about: ‘cheer up, enjoy life. You're doing a wonderful job. You need to enjoy every day. You wake up and you say, thank God, blah, blah, blah’ and so on!
“It's something that I'm working on and I think I have massively improved in my opinion. Obviously, I'm on the pitch and I can't really smile when I'm on the pitch because I'm working, so it's hard for me to smile.
“But it's something that I'm really working on. It doesn't mean that I'm not happy or I'm angry with someone. It's just my way of focusing on the game and when I'm focused on the game, I'm just right into the game. There's nothing else I'm thinking about."