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EPL Since Oliver Glasner took over as manager of Crystal Palace in February 2024, Jean-Philippe Mateta’s transformation has been majestic. In that time, only Mohamed Salah (33), Alexander Isak (34) and Erling Haaland (36) have scored more Premier League goals than Mateta’s 28. The centre-forward’s movement and decision-making in and around the penalty area have rightly caught the eye, but Mateta’s importance to Palace’s attack isn’t limited to his goals — he is a vital cog in how they progress the ball and create chances. Advertisement Mateta’s ability to link the attack allows Palace to combine and find either their wing-backs or No 10s in threatening situations. His passes on the turn are usually sharp, and Mateta believes adapting how he plays to his No 10s is integral. Under Glasner, Palace have built attacks quickly to slice through the opponents, with Mateta either linking the moves or dashing forward to be in a goalscoring position. Palace’s centre-forward is flexible and able to adjust his role in these attacks depending on the situation, as seen in this example from the 1-0 victory against Ipswich Town in December. Here, Mateta is initially making a run behind the defence, but when Ismaila Sarr plays the ball behind him, he adapts and switches the play to find Eberechi Eze’s run on the other side. Mateta’s link-up role in this Palace team is visible in his passing solar system, which shows the distance of his passes, the most common players receiving them and their average position when doing so. Looking at the centre-forward’s passes since the beginning of last season, it’s noticeable how Mateta is more inclined to find Sarr and Daniel Munoz’s runs down the right side compared to the left. That right-side connection was visible in Mateta’s assist to Sarr at Villa Park in November. In this example, Palace are building down the left, and Mateta is positioning himself between Villa’s centre-backs, Diego Carlos and Pau Torres, when Tyrick Mitchell plays the ball back to Marc Guehi. Guehi then passes the ball into the space behind Villa’s midfield, to a point that is equidistant from their centre-backs, which helps Mateta drop to receive it because Torres and Carlos are unsure who has to move up to defend the centre-forward. The hesitation in Villa’s defence means that Mateta can easily find Sarr’s run behind Torres, who now has to defend the Palace striker. Sarr then carries the ball forward, before scoring past Emiliano Martinez to give Palace the lead. “When we see the first goal, we start in the build-up on the left and we know we have a two-v-one overload on the opposite side, ” said Glasner after that match. Advertisement “It was a fantastic pass from Guehi to JP (Mateta), and he didn’t touch it, he let it through, but he knew that we have the two-v-one there (opposite side), and then we always want to attack the gaps, then playing this vertical ball. “He also could have played the safe ball, this would have been the wide one to Munoz, but this was the more threatening ball from JP. ” The “safe” pass Glasner mentioned on that day is the one Mateta played in the 2-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur in May. Here, Palace are building through the right side and Sarr’s movement drags Tottenham’s left centre-back, Ben Davies, out of position. Instead of dashing into the gap in Tottenham’s defence, Mateta drops to link the move because he can see Munoz is in a better position, attacking the space out wide from Rodrigo Bentancur’s blindside. Munoz times his run perfectly to stay onside, and Mateta finds the right wing-back behind the defence with a one-touch pass. Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Eze attacks the space vertically — rather than diagonally behind the centre-backs — to be in Pedro Porro’s blindside as Munoz is carrying the ball forward. Palace’s right wing-back then squares the ball to Eze, who scores into an empty net. The most famous Mateta-Munoz-Eze combination is the one that brought Palace their first-ever trophy, the 2024-25 FA Cup. In the build-up to the only goal in the final against Manchester City, Mateta holds up Chris Richards’ long pass and combines with Daichi Kamada as Munoz surges forward down the right wing. Mateta then finds the right wing-back’s run, before Munoz crosses the ball towards Eze near the penalty spot and the latter scores the winner. Even after Eze’s departure, Palace’s link-ups through Mateta are still effective. Last month, the penalty Mateta scored in the 3-0 victory against Villa originated from a trademark move under Glasner. Advertisement As Palace circulate the ball from Richards through Maxence Lacroix to Guehi, Mateta takes a couple of steps deeper to distance himself from Villa’s centre-backs, Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings. Guehi then finds the centre-forward between the lines, and that pass is the trigger for Kamada — playing as a No 10 — to attack the space behind Konsa, who has to defend Mateta. Palace’s centre-forward quickly threads the ball to Kamada, who is taken down by Marco Bizot, winning his team a penalty. Mateta’s link-up play is one of Palace’s key offensive assets, and Glasner has been using him as the focal point of the team’s passing combinations. On top of that, Mateta is still racking up the goals domestically, and now in Europe too. Every time the centre-forward scores, he celebrates by kicking the corner flag and the Palace supporters shout “boom”. In attack, Mateta is certainly bringing more than one boom. Spot the pattern. 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