So cruel on Leicester City as last-gasp Mateta grabs undeserved point
Jean-Philippe Mateta’s injury-time penalty denied Leicester a deserved victory at Selhurst Park after the evergreen Jamie Vardy looked to have inspired his side to a first Premier League win of the season.
The 37-year-old helped Leicester to win the Premier League in 2016 and spearheaded their promotion from the Championship last season. He is now leading the charge to keep them in the top flight following a summer of turmoil at the club.
The visitors were two minutes from holding on for victory when Conor Coady, on as a late substitute, dived in to bring down Ismaila Sarr in the box.
Steve Cooper’s side had been good value for their lead when Vardy outpaced Marc Guehi after 20 minutes to finish smartly from a tight angle.
Stephy Mavididi’s close-range volley doubled his side’s advantage less than a minute into the second half but the dark clouds that were descending over Selhurst Park were dispelled when Mateta scored from close range in what looked to be an offside position. After a lengthy VAR check, the goal was given.
Despite not having much of the ball in the second half, Leicester were rarely threatened by a disjointed Palace side who, Eberechi Eze aside, offered little in creativity.
New £30 million signing Eddie Nketiah was kept largely quiet on debut following his move from Arsenal, aside from one fizzing shot that whistled just wide in the second half.
Guehi, subject of several bids from Newcastle in the transfer window, looked anything but a £70 million defender — the price Palace quoted to end Newcastle’s pursuit of the England centre-back — as Vardy, in particular, gave him a torrid time in the first half.
But Coady’s late brain snap gave referee Tony Harrington the easiest of decisions when he pointed straight to the spot after Nketiah had done well to hold off the former England defender, who then stuck out a leg and brought down Sarr.
Mateta, whose goals were a large part of Palace’s rejuvenation under Oliver Glasner in the second half of last season, made no mistake from 12 yards to prevent Palace from starting the season with a third defeat in four games.
A frustrated Cooper said his team deserved to win, but refused to point the finger at Coady, whom he brought on to counter Glasner’s decision to introduce a host of attacking options from his bench in search of an equaliser.
He said: “They put so many players forwards you have to manage the numbers and, although we gave the goal away, I didn’t feel it was shot after shot from dangerous positions.
“It was a penalty but it wasn’t as if we were carved open, it’s hard to say because we conceded, but I thought we managed it well.”
Glasner said: “It is a compliment to the team to come back and show a really good reaction from two goals down, but we conceded two bad goals.”
“Mateta always seems to improve. He is a great finisher and a great guy, but he depends on all the other players and this is how we want to play. Everybody is responsible to work for the team.”
