Perhaps it should not have been surprising that a matchup between the fourth- and sixth-place teams in the Premier League produced an absolute firecracker of a match. Perhaps Bournemouth and Crystal Palace are two really good and, maybe more importantly for the purposes of a neutral, really fun sides, and their Saturday showdown at Selhurst Park was just a perfect clash at a perfect time. Whatever the reasoning, the 3-3 classic was the best game of this young season—and yes, I am including all of the Liverpool last-minute nonsense, including the two matches against these very teams—and a thrilling look England's upper-midtable, a place where everyone is a tough out and no lead is safe.
For about half an hour, Bournemouth probably did feel safe with a 2-0 lead. The visiting Cherries have been to me the most entertaining team to watch this season, a perfect combination of attacking talent and defensive rigidity that, while not flawless (a 2-0 loss to Brentford looked ugly, and a 0-0 draw with Newcastle put me to sleep), has provided plenty of fun and points so far.
In manager Andoni Iraola's well-honed setup, Bournemouth was attractive in possession on Saturday, using its front line fluidly before teeing up Eli Junior Kroupi for a first-half brace. The first goal was admittedly from a set piece and not particularly fluid, but did involve three of that front four. After a corner cross from Justin Kluivert, Antoine Semenyo headed the ball towards the far post, and though that header may have found the back of the net itself, an unmarked Kroupi made no doubt about it by nodding it in from point-blank range, giving Bournemouth the lead in the seventh minute:
The 38th-minute second goal was a better showcase for Semenyo's skill and Bournemouth's fast-paced counter-attacking game. After the Cherries cleared the ball from outside their own box, two quick passes set the Ghanaian international up with a 1-v-1 on the wing, where he turned on the jets to blow by Chris Richards. Semenyo then tried to sneak a rolling cross to Marcus Tavernier on the right side of the penalty box, and while Marc Guéhi was able to half-clear that ball, the clearance fell right into Kroupi's stride. The French striker got enough power on his right-footed shot to direct it past goalie Dean Henderson, who got a touch but couldn't keep it out:
I did foreshadow that this lead would not hold, though, and now it's time to praise Palace. The Eagles aren't as high-octane as Bournemouth—heading into Saturday's match, Bournemouth had scored 11 goals to Palace's nine—but they are just as capable of opening their box of tools to build a comeback. It helps to have Jean-Philippe Mateta at the tip of the attacking spear, and in the second half the Frenchman, coming off his first caps with his national team, turned Selhurst Park into his own personal playground. In the 64th minute, a long Palace move reached its climax with Mateta showing off his strength in holding off Bafodé Diakité to dump the ball off to Ismaïla Sarr, who then found Daniel Muñoz running at the touchline. Muñoz then crossed the ball to the front of the goal, where Mateta had moved to poach Palace's opener and give the hosts some hope:
Five minutes later, another long Palace move—following a terrifying run by Semenyo that was cleared off-balance by the Palace defense—saw Muñoz in a similar spot as the first goal. The Colombian struck another low cross, and though the ball rolled past the front of the goal, Mateta was once again in the right place, this time at the back post for a sliding finish. Just like that, 2-2:
The good thing about two teams riding high on confidence is that the last 20-plus minutes of the match featured exactly zero settling for the draw. Both sides pushed over and over, and got close to what would have felt like a winner. Ultimately it was Bournemouth that broke the deadlock. In the 89th minute, Bournemouth dinked and dunked its way down the field before scoring a mirror reflection of Palace's two goals. Ben Doak saw Tavernier making a run to the touchline, found him with a perfect pass, and Tavernier then crossed the ball low to Ryan Christie, would pushed it into the net with a defender all over him:
That goal would've made for a fitting winner, but these two teams still weren't done. Thanks to eight minutes of stoppage time, Palace had enough time to manufacture a third of its own. In the 95th minute, Daichi Kamada fired a corner into the box, but it would be a different set piece that would give Palace the well-earned point, as Diakité took Guéhi down with a tackle reminiscent of the other kind of football. You never want a game like this to go to a referee decision, but after a VAR review, I think everyone got it right, handing Palace a late penalty. Who else but Mateta could step to tie things up? The Frenchman did just that, sending Djordje Petrovic the wrong way with a slow and precise finish to even things up once again and complete his hat trick:
Mateta would make a mistake in the dying embers of the match, though. Sarr found his striker wide open in front of goal, the full three points in sight, but Mateta skied it with his only mishit ball all game (1:39 in this video). He might feel like he wasted a golden opportunity here, but Mateta, and Palace as a whole, will have to feel powerful after pulling off two comebacks in one game. Bournemouth, for its part, might feel aggrieved over the late penalty, but it showed that it can partially collapse and still fight back on its own terms.
This was simply a banger of a match from both teams, and on a weekend that had highs (Erling Haaland! Aston Villa back on track! United finally won two matches in a row under Ruben Amorim!) and lows (Liverpool ... Tottenham ... Nottingham Forest ...), Bournemouth and Crystal Palace stole the show. Coming out of an international break, this one was the perfect example of the kind match the Premier League does best: Two sides that might not be as heralded or as rich as the marquee clubs, putting on a show that any league in the world would love to exhibit from its second tier of teams. I know that I, for one, will be locked in for the rematch at Dean Court in May. My only disappointment is that we have to wait so long for the Cherries and the Eagles to face off once more.
