Andrew McSteen’s four takeaways from Crystal Palace’s 1-1 draw against Luton Town – Wonder goal wiped out by basic errors
Crystal Palace conceded yet another late goal as they were held by relegation-threatened Luton Town at Selhurst Park.
After taking a lead through Jean-Philippe Mateta’s clever flick in the 11th minute, former Eagle Andros Townsend’s sublime cross found the head of Cauley Woodrow who expertly nodded the ball past Sam Johnstone as the clock entered the 97th minute.
The goal was the 10th conceded in the Premier League by the SE25 side in additional time this season – an unwanted place at top of the table for conceding late.
Here are Andrew McSteen’s four takeaways from Selhurst Park:
PUSHING FORWARD FOR BETTER OR WORSE
When Palace boss Oliver Glasner started in the role he said he wanted to see his side score goals and they have certainly been going about that in the right way.
Anyone watching his first three games in charge will have seen players pushing up at all available opportunities, not least both full/wing backs in Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Munoz, sitting ahead of a centre-half trio of Chris Richards, Joachim Andersen and Joel Ward.
It was this pressure that led to the Palace goal on Saturday, Munoz harrying the visitors’ defence and latching on to an errant back pass from Luton’s Alfie Doughty to set up Mateta for his clever opener.
Jefferson Lerma’s forward pressure on Josh Brownhill in the Eagles’ previous home match against Burnley saw their captain sent off, paving the way for a 3-0 win after a nervy first half.
But this pressure on the opponents has not been kept up until the final whistle, especially in defence and when the game is in the balance.
Naouirou Ahamada was at fault for the late Luton equaliser on Saturday, cheaply losing the ball in attack when he should have driven to the corner, played it back or passed to a teammate.
The ball then broke to Townsend who was left in space, easily cutting inside Mitchell and crossing the ball – again easily – past Ebere Eze.
Glasner will surely use the next few weeks off to remind his players of the importance of maintaining possession and of putting as much energy into attack as defence.
MATETA AND A GOALSCORING ENIGMA
Five goals scored now this season for Jean-Philippe Mateta.
The likeable character is having his best season with Palace so far, but with just a handful of goals, it is not enough at this level to make a real difference.
On Saturday the French striker had a further two clear chances in the game and failed with both when he should have scored at least one.
This is the difference between winning and drawing, or even losing games and it could also be the difference between staying up and getting relegated eventually.
But when was the last time Palace had a dominant, regular scoring striker in the Premier League?
Wilfried Zaha once scored 14, while Christian Benteke and Chris Armstrong, have both done one better, with 15 each. In the 2004/05 season, Andy Johnson hit 21, although 11 came from penalties.
The lack of a fruitful striker is evidenced with Everton (29), Burnley (27) and Sheffield United (24) the only teams to have scored fewer goals than the 33 Palace have recorded this season.
Mateta’s overall Premier League scoring rate per game is a goal every 6.38 games (83 played/13 goals) and it is not much better with the other regular forwards, albeit some with more diverse roles than just scoring. Odsonne Edouard is on 5.0 (85/17), Ebere Eze 4.9 (103/21), Michael Olise 7.4 (74/10) and Jordan Ayew 71.6 (265/37).
Imagine the possibilities if that rate went down to 2.5, like it was with Ian Wright in the old First Division (72/28 – 2.57) for Palace or his partner Mark Bright in the same league plus a handful of outings in the Premier League (115/39 – 2.94) for the club?
EN ROUTE TO SAFETY?
29 points from 28 games is on track for safety, and as long as Palace have more points than games played, they’ll be fine.
They are lucky however that there are teams much worse off in the table than them, two of which they have done the double over (Burnley and Sheffield United). But they have failed to beat Luton, Nottingham Forest or Everton so far this season, three of the remaining four teams below them, drawing and beating the other, Brentford.
Most fans now have accepted the main goal of this season for the club – safety. However, this was something that was used as a stick to beat Roy Hodgson and his perceived lack of positivity.
Now that perspective has changed under a new manager who is showing elements of what could be, and until the end of the season, he has a free pass to get it right – as long as those points are enough to beat the drop.
TOWNSEND RETURN
Despite his involvement in the late equaliser, everyone connected with Palace will be happy to see Andros Townsend return to Selhurst Park fully fit.
Last time out at SE25, in March 2022, the former England player suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury playing for Everton against Palace in their FA Cup quarter-final, screaming in pain and receiving on-field treatment for six minutes before being taken off in tears in front of the applauding fans in the Whitehorse Lane and Main Stand.
Townsend made 168 Premier League appearances for Palace, missing just four league matches in his first three seasons with the club after signing from Newcastle in July 2016, before leaving in July 2021, averaging 33 top-flight games per season.
Townsend remains another popular figure in south London. and will forever be remembered for his truly wonderful strike in the 3-2 win at Manchester City in December 2018, nominated for the 2019 FIFA Puskas Award and winning the Premier League Goal of the Season Award.