Crystal Palace made it three Premier League wins on the bounce as a Jean-Philippe Mateta double earned them a 2-0 win over Newcastle United at Selhurst Park.
Palace had not scored in their last four Premier League matches against Newcastle before Wednesday's match, and it looked like the Magpies could stifle them again.
But after the hosts failed to break the deadlock in a Palace-dominated first half, a neat one-two with Jordan Ayew allowed Mateta to lash the Eagles in front before he added another late on to make sure of the three points.
Oliver Glasner's impressive start as Palace head coach continues with the Eagles' safety from relegation now mathematically confirmed in 14th, while Eddie Howe's side drop below Manchester United into seventh place.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 |
Fulham
FUL
|
35 | -4 | 43 |
| 14 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
35 | -12 | 40 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
36 | -11 | 37 |
| 16 |
Brentford
BRE
|
35 | -8 | 35 |
How the match unfolded
Eberechi Eze nearly put Palace ahead after 12 minutes when he jinked onto his right foot and fired just wide, while Mateta nodded narrowly over as the hosts edged the opening exchanges.
Ayew sent an ambitious long-range effort past the post, while Palace shouts for a penalty were turned down after Eze took a tumble in the box.
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Neither side could find the opener in the first half, but the hosts made their threat pay 10 minutes after the restart as Mateta latched onto Ayew's neat first-time pass before firing into the back of the net.
Mateta nodded straight at Martin Dubravka, while Will Hughes curled just over with Newcastle forced to cling on for long periods of the second half.
Palace survived a scare of their own when Hughes' tug on Sean Longstaff in the Eagles' box went unpunished, before Mateta made the points safe with two minutes left when he drilled through the legs of Dubravka to secure Palace's safety.
Mateta on fire
Mateta's goalscoring record since arriving at Palace from Mainz has not always been impressive, but he is certainly in the groove at the moment in front of goal.
The forward has now scored eight Premier League goals under Glasner, who only arrived in February. That is more than he managed under both Roy Hodgson (five in 35 matches) and Patrick Vieira (six in 44).
This is by far Mateta’s best scoring run in an Eagles shirt, and his all-round performance was impressive too, leading Palace to victory.
Newcastle never got going
Having thumped top-four chasing Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 last time out, Newcastle looked a shadow of that side in South London, failing to test Dean Henderson between the Palace sticks until the 87th minute.
Newcastle star man Alexander Isak was barely involved, recording only one shot and accumulating just 0.06 xG (expected goals) as Palace successfully kept the Sweden international quiet.
Any slim hopes of repeating last season's heroics of finishing in the Champions League spots are surely over after their fourth defeat in six Premier League games in London this season.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
35 | +21 | 67 |
| 5 |
Spurs
TOT
|
34 | +13 | 60 |
| 6 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
34 | +1 | 54 |
| 7 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
34 | +19 | 53 |
Club reports
Palace report | Newcastle report
Final Premier League fixtures
Key facts
In just nine appearances, Mateta has scored more Premier League goals for Crystal Palace under Glasner (8) than he did under either Hodgson (5 in 35 games) or Vieira (6 in 44).
Indeed, since Glasner’s first Premier League game in charge (24th February), only Cole Palmer (10) has scored more goals in the competition than Frenchman (8).
Only against Manchester City in August (1) have Newcastle recorded fewer shots on target in a Premier League game this season than their two against Crystal Palace.
Newcastle have lost eight of their last 11 Premier League away games (W3), while they’ve now lost on four occasions in London in the league this term, only doing so more times in a Premier League season in 2000-01 and 2005-06 (both 5).