Crystal Palace’s 5.5%-owned forward, Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.3m), scored a brace of goals on Sunday, as Manchester United’s poor form under Ruben Amorim continued.
In our first set of Gameweek 24 Scout Notes, we review the action at Old Trafford and the Gtech Community Stadium.
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 24 round-up: Sunday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats
- EXPLORE: All the Opta player and team stats from Manchester United 0-2 Crystal Palace
- EXPLORE: All the Opta player and team stats from Brentford 0-2 Tottenham Hotspur
MARVELLOUS MATETA
Thanks to his double at Old Trafford, Jean-Philippe Mateta has now scored six goals in his last five appearances, with 44 points.
The Frenchman caused all sorts of problems for Manchester United on Sunday, bundling in a rebound from close range to put Oliver Glasner’s side ahead.
Mateta then made sure of the points late on, tapping home Daniel Munoz’s (£4.8m) low cross.
“I think today he was there where he has to be as a striker, because it was twice a one-touch finish. He has this feeling that a No 9 should have in the box.
“The first one was a good set-play where Maxence [Lacroix] wins the header, and he is there where he has to be. And the second, then it’s easier, passing into the empty goal, but he makes so many runs where he doesn’t get this ball. We always encourage him, ‘do it, do it, do it’, and it’s a lot of effort he’s doing for the team, where he doesn’t get the ball.
“But today, it was maybe his 20th run, and then he’s there and gets the reward – so that’s really what delights me most, that he’s doing it, and doing it the same.” – Oliver Glasner on Jean-Philippe Mateta
Eberechi Eze (£6.7m) was supposed to miss this game with a foot injury but also played his part, coming off the bench to help create the first goal from a set-piece situation.
Crystal Palace impressed defensively, too.
The back three of Chris Richards (£4.4m), Maxence Lacroix (£4.5m) and Marc Guehi (£4.6m) kept their shape well to claim a fourth successive away clean sheet.
It’s also worth pointing out they’ve conceded just 11 Premier League away goals this season, fewer than any other side.
Teams sorted by goals conceded (GC) – all away matches
MAINOO ADVANCED/MARTINEZ INJURY
Manchester United were second best all over the pitch on Sunday, as they once again lacked attacking imagination.
With neither Rasmus Hojlund (£6.9m) or Joshua Zirkzee (£6.5m) convincing, Ruben Amorim instead used Kobbie Mainoo (£5.2m) as a false nine.
The youngster, who scored and assisted in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League clash against Steaua Bucharest, started well, hitting the base of the post, but faded as the match wore on.
Instead, it was Amad Diallo (£5.6m) and Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m) who looked the most likely to produce a moment of magic.
Amad racked up a match-high six key passes, while Fernandes desperately tried to make things happen, despite playing in a slightly deeper midfield role.
They failed to score, however, as United’s woeful home form continued.
There was further bad news, too, with Lisandro Martinez (£4.4m) taken off on a stretcher with his leg in a brace.
“I think it is a serious situation. A bad situation for us and especially for Licha. I think we are going to see in the next few days but I think it is a serious situation. It’s really hard on us, he’s not just a great player but a strong character in the dressing room. Especially in this moment, it’s hard for us. Now it is time for all of us to help Licha. He felt it and, when you are a player, you know when it is serious.” – Ruben Amorim on Lisandro Martinez
WHY VAN DE VEN MISSED OUT
Micky van de Ven (£4.5m) missed out for Spurs in Gameweek 24, despite playing 45 minutes in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
Ange Postecoglou was quick to dismiss any injury fears, however:
“[I’m] just trying to manage his minutes, we had a look at it, it’s a quick turnaround and I spoke with the medical team and Micky himself. We’ll just keep him on ice and give him another week of training and hopefully he’ll be ready for the end of the week.” – Ange Postecoglou on Micky van de Ven
With Radu Dragusin (£4.3m) potentially out for the season and Cristian Romero (£4.9m) still being monitored on a week-to-week basis, the addition of Kevin Danso from Lens for £20m couldn’t be better timed.
“Great to get Kevin in. We desperately need a defender, but getting him is great because he’s a great fit for us. He’s had a strong career but he’s at an age now where he really wants to kick on.
“He’s got all the attributes we look for, he’s really strong one-on-one, he’s quick, he’s dynamic, he wants to play on the ball, so, and like I said he’s just at a stage of his career where he’s really determined to kick on now and make an impact.
“With Radu, we’ll probably have more information tomorrow. It doesn’t look good but I think he’s seeing specialists tomorrow.” – Ange Postecoglou on Kevin Danso and Radu Dragusin
RESOLUTE SPURS
Spurs had lost four on the trot before Sunday, but a Vitaly Janelt (£4.9m) own goal and a slick finish from Pape Sarr (£4.8m) got the job done in west London.
Both goals were created by Son Heung-min (£9.8m), who supplied his seventh and eighth assists of the season.
So often weak defensively, this was a superb, resolute display, as Spurs’ makeshift backline rebuffed everything Brentford could throw at them.
It’s no mean feat, given that Thomas Frank’s side had scored 29 goals in 12 matches on home turf prior to Sunday.
Djed Spence (£4.4m) in particular stood out at left-back, excellently marshalling Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m) to claim the maximum bonus.
“Since he came into the team he has been outstanding. We missed him the last couple of games but that’s the beauty of where we’re at at the moment. We’re slowly getting players back, improving us and helping us and I think that’s giving energy to the group. He was great today, [Bryan] Mbuemo is a handful for any full-back and he handled him really well.” – Ange Postecoglou on Djed Spence
This Thursday Spurs will be hoping to hold off Liverpool and maintain their one-goal advantage in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final.
If successful, they’ll ‘double’ in Gameweek 25 against Manchester United (h) and Fulham (a).
FLEKKEN INJURY LATEST/WISSA DENIED
Mark Flekken (£4.4m) was another absentee on Sunday, with Hakon Valdimarsson (£3.9m) instead starting in goal.
The Dutch goalkeeper missed out due to a side strain but Thomas Frank did at least sound optimistic in his post-match presser:
“He had a side strain. Let’s see, we have two weeks now until the next game. Hopefully he’ll be back for West Ham.” – Thomas Frank on Mark Flekken
Valdimarsson generally did okay but was at fault for Spurs’ opener, as Brentford conceded a rare set-piece goal.
It just didn’t click in the final-third, either, despite plenty of possession.
Brentford racked up 38 crosses and generated 2.29 expected goals (xG) at the Gtech Community Stadium but were unable to get on the scoresheet, with their execution off. They are now winless in six at home across all competitions.
Yoane Wissa (£6.3m) had the best opportunities, glancing a header wide and somehow hitting the crossbar from a few yards out.
Yoane Wissa’s xG shot map v Tottenham in Gameweek 24
“We did a lot of things right but we need to ask what we could do more. A lot of things didn’t drop for us but we created a lot, produced more than 30 crosses, 20 shots but we didn’t create enough big chances, we had a lot of half-chances.
“It is down to very good defending, maybe the best defending of their box all season, they were very good at defending our transitions, very clear, very good. In a tight-ish game, we need to win the set-piece and we didn’t.” – Thomas Frank
