Tony Pulis said his West Brom side had used his inside knowledge of former club Crystal Palace to beat the Eagles at Selhurst Park.
An early James Morrison header put the Baggies in a strong position and they defended well as Palace looked to hit back, wrapping up a vital 2-0 win courtesy of a Craig Gardner strike that sees them move eight points clear of the relegation zone.
It ended a four-game winning streak for Palace, and the West Brom manager revealed his side had worked in training on ways to gain the edge.
"We worked on a couple of things in respect to what I thought Palace would do -- we worked during the week on that,'' he said.
"We scored from a corner that we have worked on, which was really pleasing. I thought we should have had a penalty in the first half, and then Gardner's strike to make it 2-0 was crucial really in lots of respects.
"I thought we were resilient and defended well, and in the end I thought we deserved the points."
Pulis was not mentioned by Palace chairman Steve Parish in his programme notes, with tensions in their relationship believed to be at the heart of his exit on the eve of the season.
But he got a warm welcome from the Palace fans and said: "Obviously it is lovely coming back to a former club.
"It is funny coming here, we played Stoke here last year and I had a great reception from the Stoke fans and to come here and get that today from the Palace supporters was first class.
"You never know [what kind of reaction you will get] -- the fans did well for me last year and I hope I repaid them a little bit in respect to what we did in the dressing room and on the pitch.
"It is a good club. It has got unbelievable potential and I mean that. The supporters are wonderful and they have a good manager. They can push on -- if Alan is given the money and the opportunity to push this club forward, this could be a good, good club."
The win may have moved West Brom eight points clear of the relegation zone, but Pulis still wants to collect at least another four points before the end of the season.
"I have just spoken to them [the players]," he said. "We lost to Leicester and QPR at home, and we needed a 90 minute performance and they were resolute and determined.
"Their concentration levels were good on the basis that we still need the points to stay in the league. I said to them afterwards, give me 40 points -- I think it has been a good season for us that is what we should be aiming for."
Pardew, who tasted defeat for just the fourth time in the league since taking charge at Palace, said: "That was a weakness in our set up that Tony exploited.
"It's a feather in the cap for them, that set play. Their guy took [Jason] Puncheon to the edge of the box, where he is not comfortable.
"It's something we'll have to look at going forward. It's a good day for West Brom. We won't go away from what we do, we try to pass it, try to find a way through, try to solve problems, get crosses into box.
"In another game, we get a goal and it's a different game. I couldn't fault my team -- we tried everything we could but couldn't unlock them or find a way through."