It’s a question most Crystal Palace supporters and perhaps Roy Hodgson must be wondering - what would this season have been like if Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise not spent so much of it on the treatment table?
A third successive victory for Oliver Glasner’s side thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s 10th and 11th goals of the season ended Newcastle’s recent revival and left Eddie Howe’s side knowing they face a battle to secure European football again. It had been almost exactly a year since Palace last won three in succession after Hodgson returned to replace Patrick Vieira in a blaze of glory. But while those came against Leicester, Leeds and Southampton who all ended up being relegated, this time successive victories over Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle have shown the progress being made under their Austrian manager.
