Oliver Glasner watched on as his Crystal Palace team won 2-1 against Newcastle United.
The hosts trailing at half-time to a William Osula goal.
Only for substitute Mateta to score two late goals to win the match, his second from an unbelievably soft penalty award.
The last time Crystal Palace won a Premier League after trailing at half-time, was 18th October 2022 against Wolves.
A massive 35 such games ago, where they have each time trailed at the break.
Oliver Glasner elated: “I just pass the congratulations forward to the players, to the team. For me it was a massive performance today, not just regarding football, also psychologically. It was a very tight first-half, not many chances. Then there was one situation, they went 1-0 up straight before half-time. Then coming back against a team like Newcastle United, only giving them two shots in the entire second-half, you know how difficult it is with all their pace and how good they are in transitions. We needed to play forward and create chances. It was just really great to watch. It’s always, but today and it was the same on Thursday, it’s a massive team win.”
The Crystal Palace understandably very happy about the impact of his substitutions: “A great impact from the bench. It was the plan to rotate a little bit, having fresh legs. In the end, I think it’s the same: we deserved to win. We could have equalised with Jeff Lerma’s header and defended really well again. A great three points. When I see his (Mateta’s) first goal, of course always the goalscorers are the ones in the spotlight. But it’s how brave Jaydee Canvot drives the ball through midfield. And then T Mitchell is there again. There were so many legs and bodies and chaos in the box. He stays calm and really delivers the ball straight on JP’s head, and then he does what he’s here for, scoring a goal and being in the right position.”
As for the weak penalty decision, Oliver Glasner unsurprisingly agreeing with it: “To be honest, I think it was a penalty, but a little bit lucky that they made this foul. In the 93rd minute, JP can score penalties. I think he has proven it for many years here. He stayed calm and has the confidence. He scored the two goals, but as I mentioned, for me it was a huge team effort.”
Oliver Glasner adding: “I also think Jørgen [Strand Larsen] worked very, very hard. The Newcastle United centre-backs looked fatigued at the end because they had to work very hard against him and against all the others. Maxence [Lacroix] maybe was a little partly integrated in the first goal, but he had such an incredible clearance in the second-half because they’re always delivering the balls in behind. It’s so hard. He had a clearance with his left foot in the air because one of their players was waiting to score at the end. And Chris Richards was there when we defended the set-plays really well. Newcastle are so strong and that’s why we protected the lead.”
Crystal Palace 2 Newcastle 1 – Sunday 12 April 2026 2pm
Match Stats
Goals:
Newcastle United:
Osula 43
Palace:
Mateta 80, 90+4 pen
Possession was Newcastle 59% Palace 41%
Total shots were Newcastle 7 Palace 11
Shots on target were Newcastle 3 Palace 5
Corners were Newcastle 4 Palace 2
Touches in the opposition box Newcastle 14 Palace 21
Newcastle team v Crystal Palace:
Ramsdale; Livramento, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Miley, Tonali (Elanga 95), Joelinton (Ramsey 84); Murphy (Wissa 95), Osula (Woltemade 84), Gordon (Barnes 71)
Unused subs:
Pope, Trippier, Burn, Willock