Crawley 0-4 Crystal Palace: Jean-Philippe Mateta scores twice in pre-season victory
- Jean-Philippe Mateta scored twice in a four-goal thrashing of Crawley Town
- Crystal Palace got their first pre-season victory against League Two opposition
- England international Eberechi Eze and Naouirou Ahamada also scored
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored twice as Crystal Palace secured their first pre-season win in a dominant four-goal thrashing of League Two side Crawley Town.
The Premier League visitors had endured tough opening pre-season encounters, losing to Barnet and drawing against Brondby, but breezed through Wednesday’s warm-up test.
French striker Mateta was on-target as he scored an opening brace that set Palace on their way to victory against lesser opposition at the Broadfield Stadium.
England international Eberechi Eze added a third goal in the 23rd minute with 21-year-old Naouirou Ahamada tapping in Palace’s fourth just a minute later.
Crawley attempted to reply with chances of their own but were unable to get the better of a Palace defence that dug in for a well-earned clean sheet.
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored twice as Crystal Palace secured their first pre-season win
Eberechi Eze scored to make it 2-0 before half-time as Palace took control of proceedings
Hodgson rotated with three changes at half-time and later made more as he attempted to get valuable minutes into the legs of players returning from holiday.
Crawley’s Nick Tsaroulla hit the post with a chip over Palace’s academy shot-stopper Remi Matthews, but that was the closest either side would come in the second-half.
Palace boss Roy Hodgson secured his first pre-season victory over League Two opposition
Palace will now prepare for a tougher test against Watford on Saturday before departing for a tour of America where they will play a host of European opposition.
Hodgson explained to the club’s official website that he will get a better of understanding of who will be part of his first-team plans for the new Premier League season while travelling the States.
The 75-year-old explained: “From Saturday onwards [against Watford], when we have a game just before we leave for the USA, that will be the first time we’ll see a team which might resemble what the team will look like when we start the league.
‘Players will probably play longer in that game than they’ve been doing so far, albeit even there we’ll be looking to use a lot of squad players, rather than just use 11 for 90 minutes.”
