Crystal Palace started their League Cup campaign in the most extraordinary fashion, scoring three times in five minutes to recover from two goals down against Plymouth Argyle.
Jean-Philippe Mateta netted a second-half hat-trick to ensure the Eagles would make it into the third-round draw – but not before putting the travelling fans through the ringer.
Here are five things we loved about a dramatic trip to the seaside…
Where to start other than with the man of the moment?
Jean-Philippe Mateta smashed in Palace’s second and third of the afternoon within a couple of minutes of one another, before adding his third to seal victory soon after.
Mateta’s was the first hat-trick from open play since Yannick Bolasie’s against Sunderland in April 2015.
Dwight Gayle scored the club’s most recent hat-trick just a handful of months later in September, also in the League Cup – netting two penalties and one from open play.
There is little better feeling as a manager to know your two strikers are finding the back of the net.
After Odsonne Edouard scored his second of the season – following his winner at Bramall Lane on the opening day – Jean-Philippe Mateta added a hat-trick soon after.
“We know [Mateta] can do that,” Hodgson said in his post-match press conference. “When he gets in those positions, we know he’s got that composure and ability to strike the ball very well.
“I was very pleased with his and Eddy’s [Edouard’s] goal as well: getting across people at the near-post and scoring from those crosses.
“It’s nice to have [two strikers scoring]. I thought Edouard was very good as well. It is good to know we have two good players like that, which is what we’re going to need going forwards.”
The Palace fans who travelled down to Plymouth may have been cursing their luck when the Eagles went 2-0 down, but within five minutes they were punching the air.
When Mateta netted his second and Palace’s third to complete the comeback, he raced to the corner flag for his signature celebration. Jump, swing, boot the flag – and the crowd responded with a huge ‘BOOM’.
JP heard it loud and clear: checkout his reaction with Palace TV+ below…
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi made his first start under Roy Hodgson in Plymouth and acquitted himself well, finding the back of the net with an emphatic finish early on but being denied by the offside flag.
Rak-Sakyi wasn’t the only Academy player experiencing matchday with the first-team squad, with young defender Sean Grehan, midfielder Jack Wells-Morrison and attacker John-Kymani Gordon also among the substitutes.
Keep up that hard work, lads.
Have you seen a better triple change than that? On come Jeff Schlupp, Ebere Eze and Jordan Ayew, and all three notch an assist as Palace smash in three goals in five minutes.
All credit to Roy Hodgson and his coaching staff for turning things around.
Or at least we think so – as Roy put it: “I think my wife could have made those substitutions…”
Too modest.
