Worrying stats show Jean-Philippe Mateta was let down by Crystal Palace teammates vs Fredrikstad
Crystal Palace secured passage to the Uefa Conference League group stage on Thursday, but they weren’t exactly convincing.
The Eagles drew 0-0 away at Norwegian side Fredrikstad following a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park last week in the first leg.
Jean-Philippe Mateta was the hero with the only goal of the whole tie last week.
However, the Frenchman cut an incredibly frustrated figure at Nye Fredrikstad Stadion on Thursday evening.
Jean-Philippe Mateta isolated vs Fredrikstad
The departure of Eberechi Eze to Arsenal was always going to hurt Palace in the creative department, but it really seems to have hit them harder than expected.
Over three games without the England international — twice vs Fredrikstad and a Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest — the Eagles have managed just 13 shots on target.
The away leg in Norway was particularly frustrating, with Palace only hitting four shots on goal.
Oliver Glasner’s men managed just seven accurate crosses through the match and only 20 touches in the opposition box — with Fredrikstad close behind on five and 19, respectively.
Fredrikstad also brought more dynamism to their performance, with seven dribbles to Palace’s two.
| Stats vs Fredrikstad | Jean-Philippe Mateta |
| Goals | 0 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Shots | 2 |
| Chances created | 1 |
| Touches in opposition box | 1 |
All of that served to leave Mateta isolated once again up-front, starved of service and reduced to just two shots and one touch in the opposition box throughout the match.
It took until the final moments of the match for the 28-year-old to finally get an opportunity, and even then, he had to run half the length of the field himself before hitting a tired effort at Fredrikstad goalkeeper Martin Borsheim.
Crystal Palace need to discover new formula for Jean-Philippe Mateta
Football Insider verdict
There’s still plenty to celebrate around Selhurst Park, with Palace recently adding the Community Shield to their FA Cup title, and they are unbeaten at the start of this season.
However, since beating Liverpool at Wembley, Glasner’s side have scored just two goals in four games, and are relying on their solid defence to get them through games.
That won’t last forever, though, especially with the news that Liverpool have submitted an offer for Marc Guehi that Palace are likely to accept.
Glasner needs to figure out a formula that restores Mateta to the sort of form that saw him bag 36 goals across the last two seasons combined.
It could be the incoming transfer of Yeremy Pino, and ambitious moves for Harvey Elliott and David Brooks.
Or an existing talent like Ismaila Sarr or Daichi Kamada could come to the fore.
Either way, the creativity of Eze needs to be replaced in order to once again unleash Mateta and help Palace build on what has been an incredible few months in the club’s history.