Jean-Philippe Mateta’s brace, including a stoppage-time penalty, denied Leicester City their first win since returning to the Premier League as Crystal Palace came from behind to draw 2-2.
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Jamie Vardy gave Leicester a first-half lead with a neat finish and just seconds into the the second half, Stephy Mavididi capitalised on some poor defending to double the away side’s lead.
Mateta dragged Palace back into the match with his first goal moments later, but Leicester looked set to hang on despite being put under heavy pressure in the second half.
However, Conor Coady fouled Ismaila Sarr in the box and Mateta coolly dispatched his penalty kick to deny Steve Cooper a first league victory as Leicester manager.
How the match unfolded
Jordan Ayew came close to haunting his old side in the opening minutes but squandered a great opportunity, shanking a volley over the bar from close range after good work from Wilfred Ndidi.
Palace’s first real opportunity nearly resulted in them going in front, but Wout Faes made a heroic block to deny Mateta.
Moments later, Leicester took the lead, with Vardy knocking it past Dean Henderson to slot in his second goal of the season.
Selhurst Park was then stunned into silence just 23 seconds into the second half as Leicester doubled their lead – Mavididi took advantage of some slack defending to finish from close range.
Palace found a way back into the encounter after Mateta applied a simple finish to Tyrick Mitchell’s excellent cross.
Initially the goal was disallowed for offside, but after a VAR review the goal was awarded.
Coady’s moment of carelessness in fouling Sarr denied the Foxes a point, as Mateta rescued Palace at the death with a confident penalty kick.
Palace still without elusive win
Oliver Glasner may have pinpointed this fixture as the perfect time to kickstart Palace’s campaign, with the transfer window closed and the future of the likes of Marc Guehi resolved, but it was not to be.
Eddie Nketiah and Maxence Lacroix made their debuts, with both having solid outings, though Nketiah will be disappointed not to have got on the scoresheet in the second half after dragging a fizzing effort just wide.
Eze was his usual buzzy self, and at the heart of most Palace attacks, while Mateta showed his true quality with his two finishes to ensure his side would not lose three of their first four league matches.
There were defensive errors though especially in the first half, with the likes of Guehi guilty of some lapses in concentration, while Nathaniel Clyne’s botched clearance gifted Leicester their second goal right at the start of the second half.
Glasner’s side must now regroup in time for next Saturday, when they face Manchester United at home.
Ndidi shines but Foxes leave disappointed
Cooper will be pleased with certain aspects of his side’s performance, albeit not with the result, with Ndidi being at the centre of many positive aspects.
The Nigerian picked up two assists and seemed to enjoy the extra freedom he was given in a slightly more advanced role ahead of the tenacious duo of Harry Winks and Oliver Skipp.
He showed great maturity in passing to Mavididi, who was unmarked for the second goal, while his attacking runs stretched Palace’s backline.
The Foxes will still be disappointed at not walking away with all three points, having been two goals up, but spending most of the latter stages in their own half was always going to lead to Palace creating opportunities.
And so it proved, with substitute Coady paying the price for a poor challenge so late on in this encounter, but Cooper will be hoping they can bounce back against Everton next weekend.
Both sides are still searching for their first win after the four opening matches, with Leicester and Palace just outside the relegation zone.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 |
West Ham
WHU
|
4 | -1 | 4 |
| 15 |
Leicester
LEI
|
4 | -2 | 2 |
| 16 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
4 | -3 | 2 |
| 17 |
Ipswich
IPS
|
4 | -5 | 2 |
| 18 |
Wolves
WOL
|
4 | -7 | 1 |
| 19 |
Southampton
SOU
|
4 | -7 | 0 |
| 20 |
Everton
EVE
|
4 | -9 | 0 |
Club reports
Palace report | Leicester report
What the managers said
Oliver Glasner: "This is what we have to improve, because we know we are always able to create chances, we are always able to score goals, but also having this consequence in defending. This is not a problem of our structure, but it's just having this consequence, and this is what we will do."
Steve Cooper: "There was loads of good in the game - in the first half we were miles the better team, I really liked us. We just needed to manage those moments after going 2-0 up, which we didn't quite do."
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Palace avoided defeat from 2+ goals behind for the 10th time in Premier League history (W2 D8) – three of those have been 2-2 home draws with Leicester (also April 2017 and October 2021).
Leicester have now failed to win any of their opening four Premier League matches in their last two seasons in the competition (also 2022-23). It’s the first time they’ve done so in consecutive top-flight campaigns since 1983-84/1984-85.
In what was his 278th appearance for Leicester in all competitions, Ndidi provided two assists in the same matches for the very first time.
Leicester’s Vardy has scored five goals in his last five Premier League starts against Palace. Overall he has seven against the Eagles in the competition, only netting more against five clubs (Arsenal 11, Tottenham Hotspur 9, Watford 9, Liverpool 8, Man City 8).
