Crystal Palace and Bournemouth twice drew 0-0 last season, so naturally they served up a six-goal epic at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
From a second-half hat-trick to a first Premier League start for any £4.5m forward this season, we look back on a breathless game.
- READ MORE: FPL notes: Enzo injury latest + “very good” £4.3m forward
- READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 8: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus + ‘DefCon’ points
EVANILSON INJURY GIVES £4.5M FORWARD KROUPI A CHANCE
Evanilson (£7.0m) unexpectedly missed out on the early Game of the Season contender. A calf injury put paid to his involvement on Saturday.
In a big show of faith from Andoni Iraola, the Bournemouth boss gave French teenager Eli Junior Kroupi (£4.5m) a first-ever Premier League start in Evanilson’s stead.
And boy, did he repay the faith, with a first-half double putting the Cherries 2-0 up.
Post-match, Iraola praised Kroupi’s ability to “smell the goals”. The 19-year-old rookie certainly licked the xG pump with his two predatory strikes (the first goal especially); on both occasions, he reacted first to deflected crosses.
Above: Two attempts, two goals – Kroupi’s xG shotmap in Gameweek 8
So, what chance of further starts for the £4.5m forward?
First, an unhelpfully vague update on Evanilson’s injury from Iraola:
“He has a small injury in the soleus [in the lower calf]. The MRI doesn’t say it’s a big injury but it’s a muscle injury, [so you] never know. I think it’s similar to Brooksy. They are not big injuries but we don’t know if it’s going to be one, two, three weeks, I don’t know.” – Andoni Iraola on Evanilson’s injury, to BBC Solent Sport
He does have previous of giving sketchy timelines but, in fairness, Dr Google does indeed suggest mild calf strains will take 1-3 weeks to recover from.
When Evanilson does return, Kroupi faces a big task to keep his place. Perhaps he can make himself undroppable by bagging more goals but Iraola is a huge fan of Evanilson’s all-round game, something he’s hinted that Kroupi needs to work on.
“He’s a player who has a very good relationship with the goals. Obviously, on a very different level, he comes from France Ligue II, and this jump is massive to the Premier League. He is absorbing all the info that we are giving, he’s trying to improve in other areas where he’s not as strong as in the box, because he’s a great finisher. I’m happy and pleased for him because this will give him also some more confidence.” – Andoni Iraola on Eli Junior Kroupi, to BBC Solent Sport
“Eva is a very important player for us. Apart from the goals, he gives us a lot of things.
“For Junior, being so young, first starting option. He’s someone who smells the goals, he’s very brave for the second balls from these kinds of rebounds. Today he scored both goals and I’m happy for him.” – Andoni Iraola on Eli Junior Kroupi and Evanilson, to BBC Sport
We saw this a bit in the last two seasons with Enes Unal (£5.4m), someone who would frequently come off the bench to grab an attacking return yet still find it nigh-impossible to budge his positional rival.
MATETA SETS RECORDS
Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) was very much ‘due’ a goal, and three of them arrived on Saturday. Incredibly, he still managed to underachieve on the xG front despite bagging a hat-trick:
Mateta racked up a whopping 11 shots in this match, the same number that Ollie Watkins (£8.6m) has registered all season. It’s a tally that has only twice been beaten in a Premier League game.
A 26th-minute missed headed sitter set the scene for a rollercoaster afternoon that ended in similarly agonishing fashion when he ballooned over a glorious stoppage-time chance.
In between, though, two instictive finishes from Daniel Munoz (£5.6m) cross-shots and a second penalty of the season.
Above: Mateta’s 11 shots in Gameweek 8
Gameweek 9 is not a good entry point for the Frenchman, as Palace are away at Arsenal (although he did score there last season!).
Thereafter, though, with the underlying numbers, the reliable minutes, the penalty-taking duties and the fixtures, there’ll be plenty of takers:
MUNOZ DELIVERS AT BOTH ENDS AGAIN
These two clubs are among the top six for defensive contribution (DefCon) returns, so it always looked likely that several names would deliver the goods on Saturday.
Five did, in all, including DefCon poster boy Marcos Senesi (£5.0m). Chris Richards (£4.5m) is the first Palace defender to reach double figures for DefCon points in 2025/26, meanwhile.
Above: The players who delivered DefCon points at Selhurst Park on Saturday
Munoz did the business at both ends of the field for the second week running. His eye-catchingly advanced positions are nothing new; no one had more final-third touches at Selhurst Park.
No FPL defender has more attacking returns (four) or has posted a bigger xGI (2.62) than the Colombian this season. No full-back has more DefCon points (six), either. The complete package?
SEMENYO GETS ONE ASSIST – BUT NOT ANOTHER
Oliver Glasner called this “one of our best [ever] attacking performances”, and it was hard to argue.
Bournemouth had conceded just nine big chances all season before Saturday; Palace carved out seven against the Cherries.
Ryan Christie (£5.0m), on as a sub, looked like he had grabbed the winner before Mateta’s late penalty.
No goals for Antoine Semenyo (£8.0m), then, but another attacking return for the column for his role in Kroupi’s second. He was also involved in the opener, too, but no assist was awarded on that occasion. You can read more about that decision here.
Senesi had an eventful afternoon, gaining DefCon points, losing a clean sheet and nearly getting sent off when his yellow card was reviewed.
