Are we witnessing the Jean-Philippe Mateta redemption arc?

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He changed the atmosphere with his front-line bulldozing and his cajoling of the crowd, he changed the dynamics of a previously tepid, listless encounter with his relentless strength and bullying of Newcastle United’s centre-backs and he changed the result with two goals. Throw in his second being a stoppage time winner, at the Holmesdale Road end, complete with corner-flag attacking, Vengaboys-echoing celebration, and it was quite something to witness. Not only was the turnaround a surprise, but as recently as January this entire scenario would have been totally unforeseen. So would this social media post… — Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) April 12, 2026 “It makes no sense to play him because he can’t help the team or perform on his top level, so we all lose,” manager Oliver Glasner said in late January when telling the media why Mateta wouldn’t be playing against Nottingham Forest amid interest from Milan. With Jorgen Strand Larsen coming in for big money and Mateta absent all the way until March 12, initially due to that mooted move but also due to injury, it was difficult to envisage days like this happening again before what still feels like an inevitable summer departure. On Thursday he scored his first Palace goal since January in a pulsating 3-0 Conference League quarter-final first leg win over Fiorentina. Sunday marked his return to a Premier League scoresheet. “I was delighted for him — I think that’s what he deserves,” Glasner said after Mateta’s heroics turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory. “To be honest, as soon as it was clear that he was to stay at Crystal Palace, he said; ‘OK, I will work very, very hard to come back and to help the team win and to help us to achieve all our goals’. I think this is what he showed. He’s now getting back to his top fitness.” Glasner was also keen to praise the contribution of Strand Larsen for his role in tiring the Newcastle defenders out before Mateta’s introduction, but this was like saying the person who booked a meeting room played a key part in the deal being made. In truth, Palace’s much-changed attack (they swapped all five attackers and central midfielders from Thursday’s massive Conference League victory), especially the forward line, was proving extremely easy to defend against. It is hard to imagine, purely in terms of physical strength, a weaker front three than Strand Larsen, Brennan Johnson and Yeremy Pino. Defenders bounced into them, balls bounced off them and Palace couldn’t get any meaningful attacks or momentum going in the first hour. At one point a simple pass into Strand Larsen ricocheted off his boot and dribbled out for a throw in. On another occasion the prospect of a quick counter attack ended when Johnson couldn’t control a basic pass from Pino. Newcastle weren’t much better, with a combined expected goals figure of 0.09 between both teams in the opening 30 minutes. It was a tough watch. Strand Larsen and Johnson needed service but had none. Pino did his best to inspire the side but couldn’t do it on his own. Between the trio they won just four of the 14 ground duels they competed for. Mateta won all four of his. His impact was almost immediate, winning a free-kick by holding off Malick Thiaw (who could do nothing but pull his shirt in a vain attempt to hold Mateta back) and then getting the crowd going by flailing his big, bulky arms. Jefferson Lerma somehow didn’t convert a free three-yard header from the resulting Pino free-kick. Mateta’s two goals, interspersed with more bullying and cajoling, were relatively simple for him to convert — a fairly straightforward header with Aaron Ramsdale out of his goal after great work from Palace’s two wing-backs Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell, then a penalty after Lerma had been fouled in the box. But the Frenchman deserved his rewards for antagonising, disrupting and stretching a Newcastle defence that had largely been untroubled in open play before Mateta, Ismaila Sarr and Adam Wharton were sent on to lift Palace. Sarr and Wharton were excellent too, reflecting a sizeable gulf in class between Palace’s starting XI and their back-ups, but this was the Mateta show, when one man changed the whole feel of a football match beyond recognition. He was still whipping up the crowd in the 97th minute, not that they needed any encouragement by that point. At the final whistle, Mateta whipped off his top, some Palace players fell to the floor and the feelgood factor in the stands was electric. Meanwhile the camera panned to Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, whose face wore a completely stunned expression. He’d just been Mateta-d. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Tim Spiers is a football journalist for The Athletic, based in London. He joined in 2019 having previously worked at the Express & Star in Wolverhampton. Follow Tim on Twitter @TimSpiers