Crystal Palace star truly silenced his critics against Bournemouth after fans battered him

Crystal Palace fans were initially unimpressed with Jean-Philippe Mateta after the Premier League clash vs Bournemouth.

Jean-Philippe Mateta has delivered the goods for Crystal Palace in the last two seasons. But there have been times where the now French international is wasteful.

Mateta missed a number of chances against Everton before the break and he did so against Bournemouth on Saturday too. That was until the second half where he pulled Palace right back into the game.

Jean-Philippe Mateta’s stats vs Bournemouth

In the 64th, 69th, and the 97th minute, Mateta scored for Crystal Palace, bringing Oliver Glasner’s side right back into the game in style, scoring from the spot late on to rescue a point.

In the end, Mateta had three goals from eight total shots (five on target and three off target), so whilst three goals is great, it could still have been even more for the frontman.

And as ever he did the dirty work too, with nine duels won as well as six aerial duels, which was more than any other player on the pitch.

Crystal Palace fans had doubts over Jean-Philippe Mateta

After watching him in action against Bournemouth in the first half, plenty of Palace fans questioned his consistency in front of goal. One fan posted: “I love Mateta but he is probably tired or something it’s not normal that he misses so many chances compared to last season.”

Another added: “Mateta’s finishing has been terrible of late. He just has to be better in front of goal,” as one Crystal Palace supporter even claimed: “2022 Mateta is back.”

“Mateta needs to sort himself out,” said another Palace fan, as a similar comment read: “Mateta needs to sort himself out.”

Some even called for the 28-year-old to be dropped: “Mateta needs to be dropped,” as another comment read: “Genuinely don’t want to watch Mateta play football again.”

Needless to say, Mateta well and truly silenced his doubters with his second half performance, and those goals will hopefully give him the confidence to go on a scoring run during this congested run of fixtures coming up.

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