Crystal Palace defeated Leicester 2-0 at the King Power Stadium, dealing the Foxes their sixth consecutive Premier League loss. The result left Leicester still two points shy of safety, with fans showing their displeasure by booing the team at full-time.
Leicester controlled much of the first half and created several chances, firing off 11 shots. Despite their dominance, they were unable to break the deadlock, with Jamie Vardy missing three key opportunities, including one after Stephy Mavididi threaded a perfect pass to him, but Vardy’s shot was saved by Palace keeper Dean Henderson. Mateta also had a golden opportunity to put Palace ahead but mishit a chance after a poor clearance from Leicester’s Victor Kristiansen.
While Leicester had the better of the first half, Palace came close to scoring when Tyrick Mitchell’s shot was blocked and fell to Will Hughes, but he fired over the bar. James Justin also came close with a free-kick, but it veered just wide, with Henderson left stranded.
In the second half, Palace found their rhythm quickly. In the 52nd minute, Mateta made up for his earlier miss by battling past Jannik Vestergaard and calmly finishing a well-placed through ball from Ismaila Sarr into an empty net. The visitors continued to put pressure on Leicester, and goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk was forced into a key save to deny Mitchell from close range.
Leicester responded with a triple substitution by manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, but their chances remained wasted. Patson Daka and Vardy failed to find the target, and Boubakary Soumare’s shot came off the post.
Palace made Leicester pay for their missed opportunities in the 78th minute. Eberechi Eze’s well-placed free-kick was met by Marc Guehi, who finished with power into the net to seal the three points for Palace, marking his third goal of the season.
