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For the majority of this fast-paced encounter, Bournemouth supporters were relishing the prospect of reaching the summit of the Premier League, albeit possibly only for a short period, and inflicting only Crystal Palace's second home loss of 2025.

Andoni Iraola's strong side had led through two goals from youngster Eli Junior Kroupi before being caught up by Jean-Philippe Mateta and believed they had secured victory when replacement Ryan Christie scored with 120 seconds of regular time remaining.

But Mateta, who netted on his international debut in midweek, had different plans as he converted a late penalty to seal his hat-trick, although he could potentially won it had he taken a great chance at the death.

Managerial Spotlight Before the Match

A great deal of the focus before this game had focussed on the individuals in the dugouts, with both Iraola and Oliver Glasner without deals in the summer and sought after by clubs with much bigger budgets.

Palace also find themselves in the upper section of the standings having failed to win any of their first eight games last season but demonstrated once again the unity they have built under their Austrian manager.

Quick Bournemouth Advantage

Glasner has established his results at Palace on a watertight defence yet they found themselves behind after just seven minutes after an impressive start from the visitors.

The speed with which Bournemouth's front four applied pressure from the start disturbed their opponents and it was from an initial corner that Kroupi, making only his second league game since joining from Bournemouth's affiliated team Lorient in the off-season due to a calf injury to Evanilson, was able to head home the excellent Antoine Semenyo's flick on despite a suspicion of offside.

Mateta should have equalised from Yeremy Pino's cross midway through the first half as Palace started to find some holes in Bournemouth's revamped defence.

Second Goal and Controversy

An impeccable piece of skill in his defensive area was the catalyst for Bournemouth's second goal, with Chris Richards left for dead as he sped down the left flank and delivered a ground pass.

Marc Guéhi, who Glasner confirmed this week will leave on a free transfer next summer, could only deflect it directly to Kroupi and Henderson was not able to prevent his volley from crossing the line.

Palace began the second period with much more purpose but a moment of dispute five minutes in hinted that it might not be their day.

Ismaila Sarr was clean through when he was brought down by Marcos Senesi, though referee Jarred Gillett decided that only deserved a yellow card as he believed the Senegal forward was moving away from goal.

Dramatic Recovery and Final Equalizer

After considerable deliberation from the video assistant referee, and to Glasner's clear annoyance, the original decision stood.

But Palace's luck turned around when Mateta's strike from Daniel Muñoz's cross was initially disallowed for offside before being swiftly reversed.

Within minutes he had his second goal of the afternoon when he miraculously guided the ball in from a tight angle after Petrovic had blocked from Muñoz as Selhurst Park erupted.

Senesi avoided punishment again when he appeared to push Sarr over when he was advancing on goal but Gillett dismissed Palace's appeals.

Eddie Nketiah had the ball in the net but this time it was correctly ruled out for offside, with Christie thinking he had stolen the victory after ramming home from close range.

But Mateta made sure that points ended even when Bafodé Diakité was judged to have committed a foul on Guéhi in stoppage time.