From boom to bust – Mateta’s barren spell underlines why Crystal Palace are struggling for goals

BY EDMUND BRACK
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk

Jean-Philippe Mateta called for Crystal Palace fans to shout ‘boom’ every time he scored a goal and darted off to the nearest corner flag in his sight towards the end of last season.

But the French forward has scored just twice for Patrick Vieira since his public service announcement, bagging the opener in the 3-2 defeat away to Everton towards the end of last season and adding Palace’s third in the 3-1 win against Aston Villa at the start of this campaign.

After Mateta stuck away Tyrick Mitchell’s cross to condemn Steven Gerrard’s Villa side to defeat in August, the striker has played 600 minutes of Premier League football without his trademark corner flag-kicking goal celebration.

The 25-year-old’s two golden chances against a Liverpool side who looked a shadow of their formidable selves in recent years at Selhurst Park on Saturday evening epitomised the level of confidence Mateta currently possesses in front of goal.

He was presented with a gift in the 12th minute when Trent Alexander-Arnold played a careless pass back towards goal.

Collecting the ball just in front of the 18-yard box with Alisson to beat, Mateta’s finish was rushed and uncultured, firing a sliced effort straight at the Brazilian keeper to deflect behind for a corner.

Mateta’s second opportunity before half-time should have seen Palace take the lead.

After Jeffrey Schlupp showed endeavour to chase Alexander-Arnold down and force the England international to turnover possession just inside Liverpool’s penalty area, the Ghanaian played an instinctive pass to Mateta, who had burst in front of Virgil van Dijk and received the ball six yards out.

The forward, once again, hit a rash effort. This time the ball crashed on to the crossbar, leaving Palace to rue his missed chances and still searching for their first win of 2023.

Speaking after the 1-1 draw against the Reds, Vieira said: “In the first half we had those opportunities that we didn’t take.

“This is one of the frustrations we can have as a team – to create those opportunities and chances and not to take them. Especially against teams like Liverpool, we knew it would be difficult to create chances, but we managed to do so.”

When pushed about Mateta’s errant finishing, Vieira said: “It’s just about confidence.

“I’m working with them every day, and I see the quality that they have. All of them can finish and score goals. It’s just about me putting training in place to build that confidence. I don’t have any doubt about the quality they have to finish those chances.”

There was interest from Everton on deadline day as Sean Dyche’s side searched for a striker to bolster their chances of survival.

But no deal materialised, and Palace would have been left severely short of options up front had Mateta departed SE25.

Vieira has fluctuated between his starting striker since he took over from Roy Hodgson in the summer of 2021.

Christian Benteke led the line at the start of last season before falling massively out of favour and moving to DC United in summer.

While Odsonne Edouard, who arrived last summer after a prolific goalscoring record up in Scotland for Celtic and bagged four goals before the World Cup break, has also struggled for consistency.

The French World Cup winner has even tinkered with Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew through the middle.

For the moment Mateta has the starting spot. There is no denying the big forward is an awkward player to come up against, despite only winning 22 aerial battles this season in the Premier League.

However, with the Eagles in the bottom three of the league’s form table from the last five outings and the relegation-chasing pack closing in, Mateta has to start taking his chances.