Jean-Philippe Mateta was both the hero and the villain as Crystal Palace were held to a 3-3 draw by Bournemouth.
The France international missed a glorious chance in the first half following a phenomenal cross by Yeremy Pino, but then went on to score a hat-trick to secure a point for Oliver Glasner.
Jean-Philippe Mateta did, however, have a chance to snatch all three points for Crystal Palace in the 99th minute, only to blaze his shot high over the bar from a matter of yards out, and Glenn Murray has now shared a theory behind why the Frenchman missed.
Glenn Murray thinks Jean-Philippe Mateta “relaxed” just before striking the ball
The man who scored 47 goals in 126 appearances for the Eagles buried many chances like this during his remarkable 2012/23 campaign – in which he bagged 31 goals in 45 games.
After watching the miss, Murray – who adored Michael Olise in SE25 – told BBC Sport: “He’s around eight to nine yards out, no opposition. He’s just got to get his hips over the ball, it’s maybe two feet off the ground.
“I actually think he relaxed in the moment and thought he’d already scored, and he blazes it over the top.”
Mateta, who Crystal Palace fans were upset with, was probably on a high after scoring a hat-trick and potentially did expect his effort to just fly beyond Djordje Petrovic, but that is no excuse.
As much as the Crystal Palace No.14 deserves credit for his three goals, he has now extended his position as the most wasteful striker in the Premier League this season with ten big chances missed in eight games so far this term, so he has to be more clinical.
Player Shot Conversion Rate Big Chances Missed
Jean-Philippe Mateta 17.9% 10
Erling Haaland 32.4% 8
Dominic Calvert-Lewin 7.7% 5
Antoine Semenyo 31.6% 4
Viktor Gyokeres 16.7% 4
(FotMob)
Jean-Philippe Mateta surpasses Yannick Bolasie to stand alone in Crystal Palace history books
Before the draw against Bournemouth, only two players had ever scored a hat-trick in the Premier League for Crystal Palace in Mateta and Yannick Bolasie.
Now – however – the man born in Sevran has surpassed the Cruzeiro No.11 in that department, standing alone with two Premier League hat-tricks to his name.
Mateta can also boast a Carabao Cup hat-trick from a 4-2 Carabao Cup win over Plymouth from back in August 2023.
The 28-year-old still has some distance to go before he can match the record for most hat-tricks scored for Crystal Palace.
Peter Simpson, who represented the Eagles from 1929 to 1935, remarkably bagged 20 trebles to secure that record, on his way to scoring a total of 165 goals in 195 appearances for Crystal Palace.