Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a second-half double as Crystal Palace continued their impressive recent form with a 2-0 away win over West Ham United on Saturday.

After a quiet first half, Mateta – who has now netted in three straight Premier League matches – opened the scoring in the 48th minute as his low strike from outside the box out beat Lukasz Fabianski at the end of a quick break.

Graham Potter’s Hammers carried little attacking threat throughout the game and their hopes of an improbable comeback were all but over when Konstantinos Mavropanos was sent off after receiving a second yellow card 10 minutes from time.

Mateta then secured a Palace victory from the penalty spot in the 89th minute after Fabianski brought down substitute Eddie Nketiah, ensuring the visitors extended their unbeaten run to five top-flight matches.

The win sees Palace leapfrog West Ham in the league table. They are up to 12th place on 27 points, with Potter’s side one point behind them in 14th.

How the match unfolded

A good save from West Ham goalkeeper Fabianski after Mateta was played through by Daniel Munoz in the 12th minute was the main opportunity of note before the break.

The game needed a goal and, unsurprisingly, it came through Mateta. Oliver Glasner’s side turned defence into attack rapidly as Ismaila Sarr nodded down a clearance towards Eberechi Eze, who slipped in Mateta to race forward and slot past Fabianski with a composed finish.

Fabianski remained busy in the second half, producing saves from Maxence Lacroix and Nketiah before the visitors found themselves in more trouble when Mavropanos was sent off for a high boot on Mateta.

The result was put beyond doubt late on when the West Ham keeper fouled a lively Nketiah inside the box and Mateta squeezed his spot kick below a diving Fabianski to secure back-to-back road wins for Palace.

Mateta stars for Palace again

Palace captain Marc Guehi was full of praise for striker Mateta in the build-up to the contest and the Frenchman’s display in east London once again demonstrated his value to Glasner.

After a forgettable first half, Mateta broke the deadlock three minutes after the restart after being sent through by a delightful pass from Eze.

The 27-year-old then secured the 2-0 victory from 12 yards out with his 11th goal of the season across all competitions.

Mateta had also struck late to rescue a 1-1 draw against Chelsea in Palace’s first game of 2025 before also opening the scoring in their 2-0 defeat of Leicester City on Wednesday.

The striker and Eze have been Palace’s standout stars in their five-game unbeaten run in the league, with the England winger now having produced three assists in as many top-flight games.

If the duo can keep their purple patches going, it will be good news for the Eagles, who now find themselves above the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham in the Premier League table ahead of next weekend’s home match with Brentford.

West Ham need more firepower

It’s been a frustrating campaign for West Ham and their supporters, but they were hoping for a new manager bounce under Potter as they bid to rise up the table.

The Hammers laboured to a 3-2 win over Fulham in Potter’s first home game in charge in midweek, a result that came despite only registering four total shots.

It meant they were looking for their first back-to-back wins of the Premier League season as they welcomed Palace, but with their only fit striker Danny Ings on the bench, Potter’s side hardly threatened in the first half and looked very much like a team in desperate need of shoring up their attack in the transfer window.

Mohammed Kudus started centrally for West Ham supported by Lucas Paqueta and Tomas Soucek, but they failed to find a way to trouble the Palace defence.

Potter brought on Carlos Soler, who was on the scoresheet against Fulham, along with Ings, Ollie Scarles and debutant Lewis Orford in the second half as he searched for a spark.

But West Ham ultimately could not register a shot on target in a comfortable afternoon for Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson, which is a worrying sign for the new Hammers boss going into tough away games against Aston Villa and Chelsea.

Club reports

West Ham report | Crystal Palace report

What the managers said

Graham Potter: "It was a disappointing day for us. The game looked like it was a game too far in a long week for us. We're disappointed with the result of course, and the performance. We weren't able to show our quality. I thought we had a bit more impetus when the young lads came on but we have to learn and improve."

Oliver Glasner: "It's big progress. We talked about it at the beginning of the season when we struggled with different things but it is a great group to work with, they always listen. It's still January but for us, it is about staying humble and keeping to try and get the result. We have three wins this week so they [the players] get a little bit more time off than planned."

Match officials

Referee: Thomas Bramall. Assistants: Ian Hussin, James Mainwaring. Fourth official: Oliver Langford. VAR: Alex Chilowicz. Assistant VAR: Matthew Wilkes.