Jean-Philippe Mateta strikes late to give Crystal Palace victory against Leicester

Roy Hodgson could hardly have scripted it any better. With the 75-year-old’s second coming at Crystal Palace heading for a draw, a goal from substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta with the last kick of the game handed his side their first victory of 2023 to send the home supporters into raptures.

Even Hodgson scarcely seemed to be able to believe his luck as he took it all in at the final whistle, with Mateta’s strike and an own goal from Leicester goalkeeper Daniel Iversen following Eberechi Eze’s free kick cancelling out Ricardo Pereira’s opener. But while the sight of Wilfried Zaha leaving the pitch in tears before half time after picking up a groin injury meant it was not quite the perfect afternoon for Palace, Brendan Rodgers will feel hard done by as his side slumped to a sixth defeat in seven matches.

Only 682 days had passed since Hodgson said his farewells to the Selhurst Park crowd for what we were told was the last time. But despite suffering the first relegation of his career here with Watford just 10 months ago, the former England manager admitted this week that he never felt old enough to retire in the first place and clearly could not resist the lure of returning to manage his local team at the stadium where he attended his first ever match in the early 1950s.

Despite considerable opposition to the sacking of Patrick Vieira, Hodgson had urged the home supporters to get fully behind the team in their attempt to pull clear of potential relegation danger and he was given a rapturous welcome before kickoff. But if the selection of Eze for his first start in four weeks was a signal of intent from the Palace manager, his players backed that up by bombarding the Leicester goal with 20 shots during the first half, albeit