A long winless run in the Premier League looked set to continue when the visitors took the lead through Ricardo Pereira in the second-half.
But Leicester led for only a matter of moments as Eze stepped up to curl a 25-yard free-kick over the wall and in via the crossbar – later credited as an own-goal after the ball bounced in off goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.
And with the seconds ticking down, in the fourth minute of injury time, Mateta produced a delightful turn and finish to give Palace their first victory of the New Year, in manager Roy Hodgson’s first match back in charge.
“Finally!” Mateta laughed at full-time. “Finally.
“I worked so hard for this goal and finally it’s happened today. We needed this win – for the team, for the new manager… he’s not really new, but…!
“The first touch, I think it was my first touch, I saw my first touch was good, and I knew I’m a finisher and I score.
“Everyone’s just happy. We needed this win. Hopefully a lot more will come as well.”
Speaking alongside Mateta, Eze added: “As we were saying before the game, we needed to win today.
“It was a big performance from everyone and I think that’s going to give us the confidence going forward.
“We’ve got the character. We know what we’re capable of. As long as we keep doing our stuff, we know we’re going to score goals.
“Honestly, I don’t care [that it wasn’t credited as my goal]! I just wanted a win today and I’m grateful to God we got it.
“We haven’t spoken to Roy yet, but we know that he’s happy!”