Over the years, Crystal Palace have been blessed with numerous attacking talents who have captured the hearts of the fanbase.
Wilfried Zaha will be the name that stands out to the younger generation, making a combined 448 appearances for the Eagles over various spells at the club, scoring 93 goals in the process.
Striker Andy Johnson is another example of a player who was a roaring success at Selhurst Park, making 140 appearances over a four-year stint, scoring 74 goals – featuring for the club in the first and second tier of English football.
Since promotion back to the Premier League in 2013, the club have employed a variety of different options in attacking areas, helping them secure their top-flight status for each of the last 11 seasons.
They are currently blessed with a crop of talented attackers, with two of Oliver Glasner’s current forward options impressive massively in the league over the last 12 months.
Mateta & Eze’s stats in the 2023/24 campaign
Striker Jean-Philippe Mateta was never seen as a prolific goalscoring option during his early days as a Crystal Palace player.
The Frenchman only managed a total of ten goals in his first 67 appearances for the Eagles, but the arrival of Glasner last season saw a huge increase in his output in the final third.
The 27-year-old has registered 21 goals in his last 43 appearances, which included 16 in the Premier League, allowing the club to register a top-half finish.
Mateta’s goalscoring exploits were undoubtedly helped by the quality of Eberechi Eze behind, with the talent enjoying one of the best seasons of his professional career last campaign.
The 26-year-old registered 17 goal contributions in 2023/24, the second most of any player behind Mateta, with his good form not going unnoticed over the summer.
Eze received a call-up to the England national side for Euro 2024, cementing his place as a regular in the setup with another all-up during the recent international break.
However, despite their recent goalscoring exploits for Palace, they’ve both been outscored by one player who previously failed to impress during his time at Selhurst Park.
The player who outscored Mateta & Eze since leaving
Striker Christian Benteke arrived at Palace with huge potential to be a success after his previous spells at Aston Villa and Liverpool.
The Belgian moved to South London in a £27m deal from the Merseyside outfit, a club-record deal at the time, but unfortunately for him and the supporters – the move never lived up to expectations.
Benteke registered 37 goals in 177 appearances – an average of one goal every 4.8 matches – but ultimately wasn’t worth the big-money fee spent to bring him to the club.
He subsequently left Palace back in the summer of 2022, joining MLS side DC United, a move that has allowed the 33-year-old to recapture his excellent goalscoring form.
Since moving to America, Benteke has scored 35 goals – a tally that is higher than both Mateta and Eze, who could only manage 23 goals each.
Selected current & former CPFC player’s goal tally since 2022 | |
|---|---|
Player | Goals |
Christian Benteke | 35 |
Jean-Philippe Mateta | 23 |
Eberechi Eze | 23 |
Odsonne Edouard | 15 |
Michael Olise | 12 |
Jordan Ayew | 9 |
Stats via Transfermarkt | |
Given his recent performances in front of goal, the club may potentially regret allowing the centre-forward to leave, with the Belgian still clearly able to find the back of the net.
Albeit, he’s achieved these figures in a significantly lower division, but he would have still been a more than capable option for Glasner’s side – potentially benefiting from an upturn in form as seen with Mateta in recent months.
