Last Gasp Mateta Goal Seals Much Needed Win For Palace

This was much more than the return of Roy Hodgson to Selhurst Park as the Eagles grabbed a very important win in front of a vociferous crowd in South London.

TIME/ DATE/ VENUE

• 3pm
• 1^st April 2023
• Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU

RESULT

Crystal Palace 2-1 Leicester City

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 4 Luka MILIVOJEVIC, 5 James TOMKINS, 8 Albert Sambi LOKONGA, 17 Nathaniel CLYNE, 18 James McARTHUR, 21 Sam JOHNSTONE, 44 Jairo RIEDEWALD

OPPOSITION LINE-UP

UNSED SUBSTITUTES – 1 Danny WARD, 4 Caglar SOYUNCU, 9 Jamie VARDY, 18 Daniel AMARTEY, 24 Nampalys MENDY, 42 Boubakary SOUMARE

TEB VERDICT

This was a good win matched by a good atmosphere at Selhurst Park as the Eagles took a well deserved victory from a poor Leicester side. More than that though, this was a far better and energetic performance by Palace in Hodgson’s first game back as manager. It says everything that they had 31 attempts on goal, the most by any Premier League side this season, with 9 of those on target. The only blot on a good afternoon at Selhurst Park was what looked like a hamstring injury that forced off Wilfried Zaha before the break. The positive is however was that the Eagles managed to find a way to win without him. Two more wins needed, three to make sure. Hodgson may well just see us through.

BOB’S POINT OF VIEW

Bob White was a coach at Palace under the tenure of Steve Coppell and Alan Smith and will be sharing his point of view each week in our review article.

“The statistics showing 31 attempts on goal by Palace only tells half the story of what unfolded at Selhurst.  A first half of high intensity and work rate combined with fluidity of movement in the final third created a number of goal scoring opportunities. Arguably our best half of the season.

The overriding disappointment was a 0-0 score line at half-time when our team deserved so much more. Unfortunately, the injury to Zaha also put a dampener to the end of the half especially as it looks like a potential longer term issue. The reorganisation of our team without him for the start of the second half allowed Leicester more attacking space down our left side which hadn’t been there before.

The space was exploited by Leicester very early into the half with a fine finish by Pereira which proved to be only their third effort on goal in the whole game. Again, it said much to the resilience of our players to not let their heads drop and lose confidence in the way we had been set up by Hodgson.

An excellent free kick by Eze which ultimately ended up as an own goal by their keeper deservedly brought us back into the game which ultimately set up a thrilling finale. In the dying minute of added time a sublime pass from Ayew, who had replaced Zaha, set up a fine first time finish by Mateta to secure three invaluable points in the relegation battle.

There is no doubt that with the same approach our team will move away from the relegation zone but there is still much work to be done. Three more wins should be the main objective to be gained as soon as possible before looking to see how high a finish we can achieve.

Overall it was a much deserved win. It tells a great deal about the ebb and flow of the game that the Leicester keeper was their clear man of the match. Our supporters were loud and proud combined with the added colour of individual scarves and banners. They were truly our 12th man. A special mention in dispatches for Guehi for another top class assured performance but my man of the match award goes jointly to Schlupp and Eze who again looked liked the player we knew he can be.”

POST GAME QUOTES

ROY HODGSON

“That was a fantastic way to win a game and I’m not just talking about the fact it was a last-minute goal. The way the team played throughout the 94 minutes was worthy of a lot of credit. The score line certainly doesn’t flatter us.”

JEAN-PHILIPPE MATETA

“It has been a very long time since I scored, but I think I deserved this one because I worked so hard for the team. For me, for the team, for the club, for everybody, it was a huge weight off the shoulders to win today. Hopefully more goals will come soon too.”

BRENDAN ROGERS

“Football can be harsh; I don’t think we deserved that at all. In the first half we had to be strong and we were defensively. We can out better in the second half and did well and scored. Disappointed with the free kick and we failed to get the early momentum back.”

MATCH STATISTICS

POSITION IN THE TABLE (at the final whistle)

UPCOMING FIXTURES

09/04/23 Leeds United (a) – Premier League (2pm)

15/04/23 Southampton (a) – Premier League (3pm)

22/04/23 Everton (h) – Premier League (3pm)