Mateta Fires Crystal Palace To UEFA Conference League Glory

After a turbulent season with Crystal Palace, Jean-Phillipe Mateta fired the Eagles to their first European trophy, edging out Rayo Vallecano in the UEFA Conference League final.

The French striker had revealed his desire to leave South London during the January transfer window, but he has now solidified his name in Palace folklore.

Mateta bundled in the rebound from Adam Wharton’s strike early in the second half in Leipzig.

Wharton, who was recently left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup, once again impressed and was awarded man of the match.

The departing Palace boss, Oliver Glasner, leaves the club as the club’s greatest ever manager. The Austrian has now lifted the FA Cup, Community Shield, and UEFA Conference League with Palace.

The first half followed the same cagey rhythm throughout, which wasn’t surprising due to both teams entering a European final for the very first time.

Vallecano’s Alemao spurned a decent opportunity wide of the post before Unai Lopez went close for the Spanish side in the opening 45 minutes.

Tyrick Mitchell had the clearest chance of the half; however, after Wharton pinged a super pass into the path of the full-back, his header went narrowly wide.

It was Mateta who once again stood up for Palace when it mattered, scoring his 16th goal of the campaign just six minutes after the restart.

Mateta, who has been included by Didier Deschamps in France’s World Cup squad, was set for a move to AC Milan in January, but a knee injury scuppered the move and left him back at Palace.

Spaniard Yeremy Pino then came close for Palace after his excellently struck free-kick hit both posts with the keeper beaten.

Rayo, who has the lowest budget in La Liga, struggled to create any real chances late on as Palace held on for their historic moment, and delivered for Glasner in his final game as Eagles boss.

Palace were forced to drop down from the UEFA Europa League due to ownership issues in the summer and were then knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league Macclesfield before finishing 15th in the Premier League.

There’s pressure on every final, but this felt huge for Steve Parish and the owners. They will now have the chance to finally play in the Europa League, where they will be joined by Bournemouth and Sunderland.

Palace are the second English team to win a European trophy this season after Aston Villa defeated German side Freiburg in the Europa League final, and Arsenal will look to complete an unprecedented hat-trick against Paris St-Germain in the Champions League final on Saturday.