Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner heaped praise on Jean-Phillipe Mateta after the French striker scored twice to down West Ham 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
Mateta opened the scoring in the 48th minute with a strike from outside the box before sealing the victory in the 89th minute by converting a penalty past Lukasz Fabianski at London Stadium.
It was the 10th and 11th goals of the season in all competitions for the 27-year-old, who has now struck in three consecutive Premier League matches for the Eagles.
"I don't want to praise him because it is always teamwork. It is the striker's job to score goals, and he is doing it excellently," Glasner told BBC Sport after the win that helped Palace leapfrog West Ham to 12th place.
"He gets the penalty and scores the goal, but he is also hard-working. He is a lovely guy and always so happy in the dressing room."
Mateta's opener against the Hammers was his 31st goal for Palace in the English top flight, but the first to be scored from outside the box.
The result meant Palace are now unbeaten in five league matches ahead of next weekend’s home match with Brentford.
Glasner's side have also gone seven consecutive away games without losing for the first time in their history, winning four and drawing three during the period.
Make that unbeaten away from home in the @premierleague #CPFC // #WHUCRY pic.twitter.com/prVphdk2Hr
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) January 18, 2025
"It's big progress. We talked about it at the beginning of the season when we struggled with different things, but it is a great group to work with, they always listen," Glasner said of their recent form.
"It's still January but for us, it is about staying humble and keeping, to try and get the result. We have three wins this week so [the players] get a little bit more time off than planned."
On the other hand, West Ham fell to their second defeat in three games under Graham Potter and ending the game without a single shot on target will raise concerns for the new boss.
the second time this term that West Ham failed to record a shot on target in a Premier League home game (v Liverpool and Crystal Palace). It is the first time since the 2005-06 campaign that the Hammers have failed to do so on multiple occasions at home in a top-flight season (v Arsenal and Wigan).
"The game looked like it was a game too far in a long week for us. We're disappointed with the result, of course, and the performance. We weren't able to show our quality," Potter said.
The Hammers finished with seven attempts and an xG of 0.3, while their opponents generated an xG of 1.31 from 12 shots, of which seven were on target.
"I don't think we could ever really get full control of the game. We struggled to create and sustain as many attacks as we would like. The better team won on the day, and we have a lot to improve, and we will do that by sticking together," the former Brighton and Chelsea boss added.
West Ham next face away trips to Aston Villa and Chelsea in the league.