Crystal Palace were denied a second consecutive home win under Oliver Glasner as they again showed their vulnerability late in matches, conceding a stoppage-time equaliser to share the points in a 1-1 draw against Luton Town at Selhurst Park.
The Eagles have now dropped 18 points from winning positions, and have conceded 10 Premier League goals in the 90th minute or later, more than any other side.
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Palace took an early lead through Jean-Philippe Mateta’s special finish and looked set to go 11 points clear of the relegation zone, but substitute Cauley Woodrow’s first Premier League goal in 10 years from former Palace winger Andros Townsend’s cross earned Luton a vital point in their battle against relegation.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -15 | 46 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -11 | 40 |
| 16 |
Brentford
BRE
|
38 | -9 | 39 |
| 17 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | -18 | 32 |
| 18 |
Luton
LUT
|
38 | -33 | 26 |
How the match unfolded
Palace were unchanged from the side who lost to Tottenham Hotspur, while Luton made two changes to their starting XI, Gabriel Osho and Chiedozie Ogbene replacing Amari’i Bell and Townsend.
The match was also historic in that Sunny Singh Gill became the first British South Asian to referee a Premier League fixture.
In the 10th minute Palace took the lead through Mateta in fine style.
Alfie Doughty played a poor backpass that Daniel Munoz latched on to, darting past Thomas Kaminski before cutting the ball back for Mateta to finish with a stunning flick, for his fifth goal of the season.
Palace were in control and their dominance nearly paid off when after a third successive corner, Mateta’s close-range header went just wide.
The Hatters nearly conceded a second goal because of another misplaced backpass. This time Jordan Clark played in Mateta, who couldn’t direct his dinked shot on target.
In the second half, Eberechi Eze whipped in a pinpoint cross that found the unmarked Munoz but he headed wide.
Eze then had another chance to double the lead, bringing Joachim Andersen’s long ball down with the outside of his boot before firing over.
In the 66th minute, the Hatters started to show more threat, recording their first shot on target as Doughty’s cross found Carlton Morris, whose volley was saved comfortably by Sam Johnstone.
The match became end-to-end and Tyrick Mitchell floated in a cross that was headed down by Mateta, forcing Kaminski to make a brilliant reaction save.
Minutes later, Eze tried an audacious shot from just inside the Luton half that was inches away from being a goal, the ball brushing the top of the bar.
They had a chance to seal the points in the first minute of stoppage time, when Mitchell’s close-range shot was saved by Kaminski, while substitute Odsonne Edouard also saw his long-range effort crash off the bar.
And they were made to pay as in the sixth and final minute of stoppage time Townsend’s cross towards the back post was headed in by Woodrow, whose previous goal was also against Palace, for Fulham in May 2014.
Rob Edwards’ 18th-placed Luton side are still winless in six Premier League matches, but have closed the gap to Nottingham Forest to three points. Palace are 14th with 29 points.
Club reports
Crystal Palace report | Luton Town report
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Crystal Palace have conceded 10 goals in the 90th minute or later in the Premier League this season, more than any other side in 2023-24.
Luton have now avoided defeat in each of their last three Premier League away games this season in which they’ve conceded the opening goal (D3), after losing six of their first seven such games of the campaign (D1).
Crystal Palace have scored the opening goal in each of their last five Premier League games, though the Eagles have won just one of those matches (D2 L2).
Only Arsenal with 14 have scored more headed goals than Luton in the Premier League this season with 13, while only Brentford 15 have conceded more such goals than Crystal Palace in 2023-24 (15).