Crystal Palace earned its first victory of 2023 after Jean-Philippe Mateta’s stoppage-time strike gave Roy Hodgson’s team a 2-1 win over Leicester on Saturday in the Premier League.
Hodgson returned to his former team after Patrick Vieira was fired and the squad looked lively under the 75-year-old manager, halting a 12-game winless slide in the league in dramatic fashion.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time at Selhurst Park, substitute Mateta received a pass from Jordan Ayew, turned and fired a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.
Palace had amassed 20 shots in the first half but Leicester substitute Ricardo Pereira opened the scoring in the 56th after being set up by Timothy Castagne.
The home team responded three minutes later when Eberechi Eze’s free kick hit the crossbar and went in off Iversen for an own-goal.
Palace lost forward Wilfried Zaha just before halftime, when he limped off the field in tears. Zaha had scored seven goals in his prior 10 games against Leicester. Ayew replaced him.
Leicester has lost five of its last six games and Saturday’s defeat drops Brendan Rodgers’ team into the relegation zone.
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