Jean-Philippe Mateta inspires Crystal Palace
West Ham United 0 - 2 Crystal Palace
Jean-Philippe Mateta's double secured a vital away win for Crystal Palace against West Ham in the Premier League.
Mateta opened the scoring after latching onto a superb through ball from Eberechi Eze, calmly slotting it low past Hammers goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański into the bottom corner.
Late drama unfolded with two minutes to go when Mateta played a neat pass to Eddie Nketiah, who was clattered by Fabiański in the box.
Mateta stepped up for the resulting penalty, and although Fabiański got a touch, the ball squirmed under him to seal the victory for Palace.
The match saw more frustration for West Ham, who were reduced to 10 men in the 80th minute. Konstantinos Mavropanos was shown a second yellow card after tangling with Mateta and catching him in the face with a high boot.
The win moves Palace up to 12th in the table, while West Ham slip to 14th, sitting just a point behind their opponents.
Premier League: 2024/2025 season
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West Ham's struggles at home this season show no signs of easing.
West Ham struggled against Palace here Highlights here - youtu.be/w3BJ5O4v4WU?... More reaction here - eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com/p/premier-le...
— European Super Football (@superfootball.bsky.social) 19 January 2025 at 11:12
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The Hammers have now conceded 26 goals in 12 home games and have yet to win a match after falling behind. Despite dominating possession, they failed to register a single shot on target on Saturday, delivering a flat and uninspired performance.
Palace's opener in the 48th minute marked the 10th time West Ham have conceded within the first 15 minutes of the second half this season – a tally only Leicester have matched.
This latest defeat is West Ham’s 10th in the league, leaving them 10 points clear of the relegation zone. They also missed the chance to secure back-to-back league wins for the first time this season, underlining the inconsistency that cost Julen Lopetegui his job earlier this month.
Palace moving clear of relegation concerns
Crystal Palace had a worrying start to the season, going winless in the Premier League until the final week of October. However, those concerns have now been firmly put to rest.
Under Glasner’s guidance, the Eagles are on a five-match unbeaten run in the league and looked assured once they took the lead against West Ham.
Jean-Philippe Mateta has been pivotal this season, netting eight league goals so far and 32 in total since joining the South London club. His contributions continue to underline his value to the team.
They have now gone seven consecutive away games without losing for the first time in their top-flight history, winning four and drawing three.
More impressively, they have also kept clean sheets in each of their last three away matches, matching their longest run without conceding on the road in the league.
After facing some struggles early in the season, Palace appear to have found their rhythm under Glasner.
