Crystal Palace ended their three-month winless run with a convincing home win against a blunt Leicester City, with Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring the crucial last-minute winner. 

Following his appointment two weeks ago, Roy Hodgson demanded Palace play with energy, enthusiasm and work-rate and his players did not disappoint on this front. 

The home side dominated the first half, firing nineteen shots at Leicester's Daniel Iversen while the Foxes failed to manage a single shot. 

Despite Palace's dominance, Ricardo Pereira put the Foxes ahead with a powerful finish in the second half, but his effort was quickly cancelled out after Eberechi Eze's sublime free-kick deflected off Iversen's back to get the Eagles level again. 

From here, the match evened out with both sides having good chances, but a very late winner from Mateta secured the home side their first three points of 2023. 

  • Story of the Match

The return of Hodgson has had a mixed reception amongst Palace fans, but with a strong squad and a very favourable final ten fixtures, the south London side are not favourites for relegation.

The Eagles also welcomed the return of goalkeeper Vicente Guaita and centre back Joachim Andersen from injury, while Eze earned his first start in four matches.

Meanwhile, Leicester were looking for their first win in five matches to avoid slipping deeper into the relegation fight.

Pressure has been mounting on manager Brendan Rodgers who has underperformed this season with a very strong squad.

Palace started the match the stronger side with a confidence and style that they had missed since the new year.

Wilfried Zaha and Michael Olise proved to be dominant going forward, with the Leicester defence struggling to handle the wingers' skill and interplay with forward Odsonne Edouard.

But the first half was the Eberechi Eze show. He strung almost all of Palace’s play together with neat interplay and box-to-box ball carrying which defined his side’s exciting first half attacking play.

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Leicester were not without their chances and very nearly spoiled Palace’s early dominance. Victor Kristiansen's cross would have certainly been converted into the open net if the post had not saved the home side’s blushes.

But it was Palace’s first half to lose, and they dominated. Midfielders Cheick Doucouré and Jeffrey Schlupp performed excellently to regain possession and unleash the forwards.

But to the delight of Leicester, Zaha was forced off after the winger overstretched his groin during an attacking build up, being replaced by Jordan Ayew.

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Following the break, Leicester were able to gain some control over the match and Palace lacked the same attacking pertinence without Zaha. 

An unexpected scare

Leicester's resilience paid off after Palace were found lacking at the back. Timothy Castagne found substitute Ricardo Pereira in space on the edge of the box who thrashed it past Guaita in the 55th minute. 

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But Palace were quick to respond. Eze's edge of the box free-kick curled towards goal, but hit the crossbar.

Fortunately, the ball went in off Iversen's back for the Eagles to equalise and give Eze a deserved goal. 

From here, the opportunities for both sides evened out, as Eze continued to be Palace's biggest threat, while Patson Daka made himself know to the Palace defence. 

Palace had a golden chance in the closing minute of the match, with Ayew finding himself alone on the edge of the box. His cross was met by Mateta who failed to get a headed connection. Tyrick Mitchell's subsequent effort was easily dealt with by Leicester. 

But Palace took away all three points in the closing seconds. Ayew carried the ball across the centre of the pitch and lashed in a dangerous and powerful pass into Mateta. 

The Frenchman did excellently to control the ball and turn away from his man and make space for a shot, which was neatly tucked passed Iversen.

The winner sent the Holmesdale stand into dreamland to finally secure Crystal Palace a deserved win to get Hodgson's second term underway in the best way possible.

Leicester will leave south London disappointed with their blunt and gutless performance. Pressure will continue to mount on Rodgers, but a favourable fixture list may be enough to keep the Foxes safe. 

From the first whistle, Eze gave Palace fans the performance they have been missing from the tricky midfielder. 

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He was influential across the pitch throughout the game, from his aggressive tackles to reclaim possession to his consistant tracking back. 

However, his attacking output truly defined Palace's play and gave them the spark that they'd been missing throughout the second half of the season. 

His dominance was rewarded with his free-kick equaliser in the second half. Without his unstoppable work-rate, footwork and ability to string play together, Palace would not have looked half as dangerous. 

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