Some doubted him after
his first couple of seasons in England, but Crystal Palace’s
Jean-Philippe Mateta is now one of the best forwards around. We
look at his impressive rise.
To say
Jean-Philippe Mateta was influential in Crystal
Palace’s 3-3 draw with Bournemouth last weekend is quite an
understatement.
The 28-year-old became the first player to score a hat-trick in
the Premier
League this season, including a 97th-minute penalty to rescue a
draw for the hosts at Selhurst Park.
There was even time for Mateta to miss a glorious chance to
score his fourth and win it, but he blazed over, leading to the
unusual sight of a player who had scored three times, including a
late equaliser, dropping to the ground in despair with his head in
his hands at the final whistle.
Despite his treble, Mateta had actually somewhat underperformed
in terms of goal return on the day. He had 11 shots in total –
there have only been seven instances of a player having more on
record (since 2003-04) in a Premier League game – and amassed a
personal expected goals total (xG) of 3.67, the most on record
(since 2008-09) in a Premier League game for a single player.
The only other example of a player recording more than 3.0 xG in
a game is Sergio Agüero for Manchester City against Tottenham in
October 2014 (3.3). It should be mentioned that xG measurements
have altered slightly over time, though, so it is far from an exact
science.
While Mateta’s total included a penalty, which always comes with
an xG value of 0.79, his 2.88 non-penalty xG is the only example
this season of a player having more than 2.0 non-pen xG in a
Premier League game, showing just how dangerous he was against the
Cherries.
His disappointed reaction at the final whistle was an example of
the high standards Mateta sets himself. That determination has
taken him from back-up striker to Odsonne Édouard and Jordan Ayew
at Palace to making his senior France debut.
Mateta played for his country at last summer’s Olympic Games,
but in the most recent international break, he won his first two
caps for Les Bleus’ senior side under Didier Deschamps, even
scoring his first international goal in a 2-2 World Cup qualifying
stalemate in Iceland.
Speaking to L’Equipe recently, Mateta made the point
that some of his former Palace teammates, namechecking Wilfried
Zaha, mocked his previous assertion that he would represent France
at senior level when he first arrived in England, accusations that
Zaha took exception to. The former Eagle took to social media to
exclaim that his head was “on fire” at the comments, though Mateta
has since claimed he has cleared the air with Zaha, telling
reporters on Wednesday: “Everything is good. We talked in private,
and that’s it.”
It seemed Mateta’s original claim was meant to be more
tongue-in-cheek than Zaha took it as, but the point stood. Many
Palace fans would have equally doubted his international
credentials after he only managed nine goals in his first 60 games
(29 starts) for the club under Patrick Vieira, and then just seven
in 32 games under Roy Hodgson.
Mateta was signed on an initial loan deal from Mainz
05 in 2021, where he had scored 24 goals in 67 Bundesliga games
across three seasons. He took a while to adapt to the Premier
League, but he has now got 53 goals in 165 games (112 starts) in
all competitions for Crystal Palace.
That improvement coincided with the appointment of Oliver
Glasner as manager in February 2024, who also arrived from the
Bundesliga
having won the Europa League in his time at Eintracht
Frankfurt.
The Austrian coach built his attack around Mateta pretty much
straight away. Only 12 of Mateta’s 22 Premier League appearances in
2023-24 had been starts to that point, scoring three goals, but he
started all 13 games after that under Glasner, scoring an
impressive 13 times before the end of the campaign.
Mateta played in all but one of Palace’s league games last
season, and started 33 of them, scoring 14 goals, and he has also
begun this campaign in impressive fashion, with five goals in eight
Premier League games.
Looking at Mateta’s record in the Premier League since Glasner
arrived, his goals per 90 minutes have rocketed up from 0.29 to
0.66, his shots per 90 are up from 2.3 to 2.6, his xG per 90 is up
from 0.33 to 0.60, and his shot-conversion rate has more than
doubled from 12.6% to 25.6%.
In fact, since Glasner became Palace boss, only Erling
Haaland (43), Mohamed
Salah (34) and Alexander
Isak (34) have more Premier League goals than Mateta (32), and
his shot-conversion rate of 25.6% is better than all three of
them.
His start to this season has been especially impressive. He is
the only player other than Haaland (1.14) in Europe’s top five
leagues to average more than 1.0 xG per 90 (1.01 – minimum 300
minutes played), while he is also only second to Haaland (1.14) in
non-penalty xG per 90 (0.8).
That could well be because he is getting more chances. Mateta
has attempted 28 shots in the Premier League, at least seven more
than any other player except Haaland (34). His shots per 90 have
gone up from 1.8 in 2023-24 and 2.4 in 2024-25 to 3.6 this
season.
That Mateta is getting so many chances is credit to his movement
and anticipation, as well as to the creativity of his Palace
teammates. The fact he has managed to get even more chances despite
losing Michael
Olise and Eberechi
Eze as providers in the last couple of summers is testament to
both his and Glasner’s adaptability.
There is also the fact he is actually averaging fewer touches in
the opposition box per 90 in the Premier League under Glasner (3.9)
than before (4.4), showing that he is becoming far more efficient
with the touches he is taking.
Mateta is fast writing himself into Crystal Palace folklore.
Only Zaha (68) has more Premier League goals for the Eagles than
him (43), while his hat-trick on Saturday took him to 51 Premier
League goal involvements (43 goals, 8 assists), making him only the
third Palace player to reach that landmark after Zaha (96 – 68G,
28A) and Eze (57 – 34G 23A).
He is also only the third Palace player to score five goals in
their first eight matches of a Premier League season, along with
Andrew Johnson in 2004-05 and Zaha in 2020-21.
His form has been particularly steady in 2025. Mateta has scored
15 Premier League goals in this calendar year; only Haaland (19)
has more. His xG of 15.95 since 1 January is more than any other
player in that time, while only Haaland (36) has as many as his 36
shots on target.
In fact, of players who have attempted at least 30 shots in 2025
in England’s top flight, no one has a higher percentage of hitting
the target than Mateta (58.1%).
This is particularly impressive when you consider how many of
his shots are hit first time. Nobody has attempted as many as his
23 first-time shots in the Premier League this season, with a
whopping 82.1% of his shots being hit first time, and all five of
his goals coming from first-time efforts.
It must be said that two of them have been penalties, but Mateta
also has the highest open-play xG from first-time shots this season
(5.12). Apart from Haaland (4.96), Beto
(3.1), Palace teammate Ismaïla Sarr
(2.97) and Enzo
Fernández (2.85), no other player even has half as much.
As mentioned, Mateta is the focal point of Palace’s attack. He
has had 25.9% of Palace’s shots this season (28 of 108); only
Haaland (34 of 105, 32.4%) has had a higher percentage of his
team’s attempts this season in the Premier League.
One reason he gets so many chances is that he makes himself an
option so often. Only six players in the Premier League have made
more runs to become crossing options this season than Mateta (26),
which is ideal for flying wing-backs Tyrick
Mitchell and Daniel
Muñoz.
Crystal Palace head across London on Sunday to face Premier
League leaders and
Europe’s meanest defence in Arsenal. The short trip might be
good for Mateta, with eight of his last nine Premier League goals
scored in the capital, while he has netted five in his last eight
London derbies.
That included a wonder goal in a 2-2 draw at Arsenal in April
that pretty much put the final nail in the hosts’ coffin in the
title race. He will hope to stop their current momentum this
time.
It is the perfect situation for Palace. They have an outstanding
striker in his prime, but who probably won’t get the suitors he
deserves due to his age. His contract expires in 2027, but there is
little sign he is angling for a move away.
With the fans behind Mateta and Glasner working out new ways to
get even more out of him, why would he?
Some may have doubted him in his first couple of seasons in
England, but Mateta has well and truly silenced them to become one
of Europe’s best strikers. That we’ve said “only Haaland” so often
in this article is proof of that fact.
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