The Eagles were a goal behind heading into stoppage time, before the Brazilian – who was introduced with 15 minutes to play – glanced Jefferson Lerma’s cross past Aaron Ramsdale in the second of eight additional minutes.
Franca, 21, arrived at Selhurst Park from Flamengo in 2021, costing the Eagles up to £26m (£17m + £9m in potential add-ons).
However, Wednesday’s trip to St. Mary’s was only his 16th appearance for the club, following lengthy spells on the sidelines.
Towards the back end of last season, he had surgery on a groin injury before a fracture to his ribs stunted his recovery in pre-season.
ANALYSIS
He returned to Palace training at the end of September 2024 but picked up another injury to his groin which kept him out for another four months.
Reflecting on a tough couple of years littered with injuries for the attacker, Eagles boss Oliver Glasner gave him kudos for his resilience.
“I’m very pleased,” said Glasner. “It's his first goal for Crystal Palace. He was injured for 10 months.
“When you see his story, he had three or four setbacks and a surgery. He was always working hard and had great support from everyone in the club.
“There is a moment in life when you get back what you invest. He’s had a great two weeks. He had his first child and became a father. He had a birthday this week and now he has his first goal.
“In two weeks, he had a lot of positive feelings and emotions back for all his investment. And, of course, he won us a point.
“He has skills and is good one-on-one. He can score goals and knows where to be in the box, which is a feeling you can’t learn.
“It was a great header – it wasn’t easy. He scores many goals in training and this is why we brought him on.
“If we didn’t believe that he could help the team and score then he wouldn’t get minutes – he’s shown everything he did today in training. Well done.”
A moment to remember for Matheus França.
His first competitive Crystal Palace goal 🇧🇷🥰#CPFC pic.twitter.com/kYAoomXStZ
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) April 2, 2025
After scoring his first goal for the football club, Franca told Palace TV: “ I'm really happy to be back in this team. It was amazing to score my first goal in the Palace shirt.
“I've been training a lot, and I did it in the game. That's good, I can [score] with the head. If I have a chance to shoot, I do it.
“That was just my first goal here. I expect to do more things for my team. I can create assists, score more goals and decide games.”