Palace boss Hodgson reveals tunnel conversation with Mateta after last-minute Leicester winner

Roy Hodgson has revealed what he said to Jean-Philippe Mateta after his late winner in Crystal Palace’s 2-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday.

The French forward, who replaced Odsonne Edouard in the 86th minute at Selhurst Park, scored with virtually the last kick of the game when he collected Jordan Ayew’s pass inside the area and confidently slotted the ball beyond Daniel Iversen.

It was Mateta’s first goal for the Eagles since the 3-1 win over Aston Villa in August.

The 25-year-old only started twice under Hodgson in the Premier League when the duo first worked together after Mateta joined the Eagles from Mainz in the 2020-21 January transfer window.

Hodgson said: “I have got to say, when we signed him, one of the first conversations I had with him, he said: ‘I’m a goalscorer – I score goals. You can trust in me and I’ll get you some goals’.

“To be honest, in that period of time, he didn’t have a particularly good time at all. As a result, we weren’t particularly good to him because we didn’t give him that many starts. 

“He was a bit-part player. Coming back now, the relationship has been very good from the start.

“It might not have been. He might have thought: ‘Oh, he’s coming back and he never gave me a start’, but it wasn’t like that at all.

“He’s worked unbelievably hard in these last 10 days and done everything in his power to show that you can trust me and I’ll do something for you.

“I said to him in the tunnel tonight: ‘You told me you score goals, and you weren’t lying – you told me the truth’.

“He took his goal very well. I wasn’t quite aware on the touchline what a wonderful piece of skill he showed there.

“I hope we can keep him on board and he will be able to show some of those performances again.”