Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta (second right) celebrates scoring. _(Image: PA)_
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner hailed Jean-Philippe Mateta as the best finisher he has worked with.
Mateta, who won Silver with France at this summer’s Olympic Games, has scored 25 goals for club and country in 2024, with only Cole Palmer and Erling Haaland netting more league goals since Oliver Glasner took over at Crystal Palace.
Despite only scoring four times this term, Mateta has been pretty clinical, with his xG matching his goals scored.
After Tuesday’s win over Ipswich, when the striker scored the sole goal of the game, Mateta credited his matchwinner to goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely, who he speaks to about the best way to finish in certain situations.
Glasner said that his decision to go the extra mile to improve his game is testament to his character: “I didn’t tell him to talk to the goalkeeper coach. This shows JP.
“He is the best finisher I’ve worked with, maybe Wout Weghorst at Wolfsburg was similar when he got the ball in the box, he was a great finisher. All the others didn’t have such finishing quality like JP - with the right foot, left foot and head.
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The Palace boss added that Mateta is a forward who takes his chances, and therefore, the onus is on those around him to create more opportunities.
“This is his biggest strength, and now it’s our job to create situations where he can get the ball in these dangerous areas because we know he will score goals for us.”
“It's easy to coach him, a great guy who is always laughing and smiling when he arrives. He’s one of the first here, working very hard.
“I think he suffered at the beginning of the season with the [Olympics](http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/olympics) tournament, with all these games, with all the emotions he had there, and losing the final, playing so many minutes there, coming back four days before the Premier League start, he wasn't fresh, mentally especially.
“But yes, he scored so many goals, and he played and played, and I also had him twice on the bench, not to punish him, not just to give him the break that he maybe needed, and I explained it, and showed his character, he was always positive, and said: ‘gaffer, as long as you need me, I'm here for the team’, and then he gets the reward, and this is what he gets now.”