‘Sulky passivity’ – National media verdict on Leicester City loss at Crystal Palace

BBC Sport

Leicester missed the chance to move out of the Premier League relegation zone, falling short in the final minute.

They tested the hosts on occasion, but Palace were dominant with 31 attempts on goal compared with Leicester’s three.

The Foxes came close to snatching the first goal against the run of play when Victor Kristiansen’s cross rattled the far post but Marc Guehi cleared the danger.

Pereira’s goal halted Palace’s progress, but the visitors failed to recover after the rapid equaliser.

Leicester are now winless in their past six matches, with ten games remaining to secure their Premier League status – including against fellow strugglers Leeds, West Ham, Wolves, Bournemouth and Everton.

The Telegraph

Zaha is more than the leader of this team. He is its engine. Leicester, who had done nothing when he was on the pitch, seized the opportunity of his leaving to take control. Palace, suddenly shorn of their talisman, sank deeper and deeper. And the Leicester substitute Ricardo Pereira struck with a rasper of a shot from Timothy Castagne’s cutback to put his side in the lead.

Hodgson, though, can take consolation from the fact his side is by no means bereft of character without their main man. Hope returned when Eberechi Eze thumped in a long range freekick that bounced off the bar and hit the diving Iversen on the back, creeping over the line.

And then, when it looked as if the game was going to end with a point each, Mateta struck with glee. Even Hodgson allowed himself a little jig of delight at that. For Palace fans, his return could not have come too soon.

The Times

Crystal Palace waited until the last few seconds to secure their first win of 2023, with Jean-Philippe Mateta, who had not long been on the pitch, delivering arrogance and strength to snatch victory in added time.

It is not certain that Palace were in freefall before the arrival of Roy Hodgson, but he has surely arrested any slide towards ignominy. He saw a team able to respond after going behind against the run of play and clearly better equipped to handle the battle to avoid relegation than Leicester, whose first half smacked of sulky passivity. Brendan Rodgers’s team summoned three shots compared with Palace’s 31, the biggest gulf in any match in the Premier League so far this season.

Guardian

Even with his vast managerial experience that stretches back nearly 50 years, Roy Hodgson will struggle to beat this for late drama.

With the 75-year-old’s second coming at Crystal Palace heading for a draw, a goal from the substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta with the last kick of the game handed his side their first victory of 2023 to send the home supporters into raptures.

Hodgson scarcely seemed to be able to believe his luck as he took it all in at the final whistle, with Mateta’s strike and an unlucky own goal from the Leicester goalkeeper Daniel Iversen following Eberechi Eze’s free-kick cancelling out Ricardo Pereira’s opener.

Daily Mail

Hodgson only signed up for the job of replacing Patrick Vieira until the end of the season, and it remains very early days. But if he continues like this, Palace will be showing a longer deal under his nose as quickly as possible.

It also denied Leicester what could have been a priceless point in their battle to beat the drop, in the most heartbreaking of circumstances, leaving them back in the bottom three.

The Sun

In the fourth minute of stoppage-time, with virtually the last kick of the match, the French forward swivelled beyond a Leicester City marker to score the winner past the otherwise brilliant goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.

Selhurst Park was absolutely rocking as it celebrated the club’s first win of 2023 in all competitions.

Not only does this dramatic result end a run of four successive defeats – a misery sequence that spelled the end for Patrick Vieira – it may end up proving pivotal in their battle against Premier League relegation…

For Leicester, it was a real sickener and goal they may well remember for the wrong reasons as it dumped them back in the bottom three with 10 matches left in this craziest relegation run-in.

Press Association

Roy Hodgson’s second spell in charge of Crystal Palace began with victory as the hosts secured their first three-point haul of 2023 with a dramatic 2-1 win over Leicester at Selhurst Park.

The Eagles had struggled to score this season but looked more assertive in Hodgson’s first match back in the dugout, with his side now firmly entrenched in the relegation battle.

Despite the hosts’ registering 20 shots by half-time, it was Leicester who broke the deadlock through substitute Ricardo Pereira after the restart.

But the Eagles replied almost instantly when Eberechi Eze’s free-kick took a touch off Foxes goalkeeper Daniel Iversen before going in.

That looked to settle the result until a last-gasp effort by substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta in the fourth minute of added time ensured the hosts walked away deserved winners.

Palace entered the encounter five places above the Foxes in the table but just two points clear of their opponents, who were unbeaten in their last seven meetings with the Eagles.

Hodgson was in the dugout the last time the south London side beat Leicester, a decisive 4-1 victory at King Power Stadium.

This season Palace had only managed to score more than once six times in their 28 Premier League matches leading up to Saturday’s contest.

It was an encouraging sign for Hodgson, then, when his side registered a shot within seconds of kick-off, Odsonne Edouard feeding Wilfried Zaha whose sharp effort was blocked by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Cheick Doucoure became the next Eagle to test Iversen with a low strike and the hosts soon breathed a sign of relief when Victor Kristiansen’s cross clipped the inside of the post before going out.

By the halfway point in the period Palace had more shots on target – three – than they had in three consecutive matches in 2023 in which they had registered none.

They were threatening but still searching for an opener after Joachim Andersen nodded wide from a set piece and Iversen blocked Edouard’s effort through a crowd.

The hosts looked close to breaking the deadlock when Andersen sent a lovely ball to Zaha, whose acrobatic attempt at the back post instead took a deflection off a player inside the area.

There was then a huge blow to Hodgson’s side as Zaha keeled over moments before half-time and was in tears as he left the game with what appeared to be a groin injury.

Despite registering just two shots to the hosts’ double-digit efforts, Leicester seized on a rare opportunity 11 minutes after the restart when Timothy Castagne squared the ball back to Pereira, who sent a shot past a diving Vicente Guaita into the top-left corner.

Selhurst Park erupted three minutes later as Eze directed a free-kick at the Foxes goal, catching the underside of the crossbar before the ball went in off the unfortunate Iversen.

Palace went close to going ahead in the final 10 minutes from another free-kick but this time Marc Guehi could not connect to Michael Olise’s delivery.

Hodgson’s decision to swap Edouard for Mateta in the 86th minute proved an inspired one as the latter poked home in the final seconds of stoppage time to the delight of the elated crowd and his new manager.