Oliver Glasner believes Jean-Philippe Mateta deserves to be back in the good books of Crystal Palace supporters after the striker’s match-winning display against Newcastle.
Mateta upset Eagles fans by trying to leave the club in the January transfer window, only to see a move to AC Milan break down after a knee injury caused problems with his medical.
After scoring in Palace’s Conference League quarter-final victory over Fiorentina on Thursday, his redemption continued as he struck twice off the bench to help his side come from behind in the 2-1 victory.
Glasner said: “I was delighted for him and I mentioned weeks ago that is what he deserves.
“As soon as it was clear that he had to stay at Crystal Palace, he said: ‘OK, I will work very, very hard to come back and help the team win,’ and to help us achieve all our goals.
“This is what he has showed and he is now getting back to his top fitness.
“I thought Jorgen [Strand Larsen] worked very hard and the Newcastle centre-backs looked fatigued at the end because they had to really work very hard against him and against all the others.
“For me, it was a massive performance today, not just regarding football, but also psychologically.
“I think it was a very tight first half, not many chances and then just one situation and they’re 1-0 up straight before half-time.
“Today is a massive team win, and again a great impact from the bench.”
Newcastle led two minutes before half-time when William Osula bundled in Lewis Miley’s cross, but Mateta headed in to level for Palace with 10 minutes left.
The Frenchman then snatched victory with a penalty in the fourth minute of added time after Sven Botman had pulled back Jefferson Lerma inside the area.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, who has seen his team drop 25 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, said: “Those numbers are incredible, really, and it’s blighted our season.
“The fact we haven’t been able to not just consolidate really good passages of the game but go on and score more goals and continue to attack, I’ve said many times that’s not the tactical instruction we give the players.
“We don’t want to go 1-0 up and change the mentality of defending, but we’ve done it so I can’t say it hasn’t happened.
“But then if you are going to defend, you’re going to have to defend better than we did.
“It was a game of few chances, but we still looked vulnerable towards the end of the game – that’s hugely disappointing.
“The first goal we conceded, I think, is self-inflicted, not good enough – [it’s come] through a minimal threat, and of course the second goal is an individual error with very little time left in the game.”
