For most of this breathless encounter, Bournemouth supporters were relishing the prospect of going top of the Premier League, albeit potentially only for a few hours, and inflicting only Crystal Palace’s second home defeat of 2025. Andoni Iraola’s impressive side had led through two goals from teenager Eli Junior Kroupi before being pegged back by Jean-Philippe Mateta and thought they had won it when substitute Ryan Christie scored with two minutes of normal time remaining. But Mateta, who scored on his international debut for France in midweek, had other ideas as he converted a late penalty to complete his hat-trick, although he could even have won it had he converted a great chance at the death.

Much of the attention before this game had focussed on the men in the dugouts, with both Iraola and Oliver Glasner out of contract in the summer and coveted by clubs with much bigger budgets. The Bournemouth owner, Bill Foley, is due to travel to the UK before the end of the month to continue discussions with the Spaniard that will surely be even more of a priority given their incredible start to the season. Palace also find themselves in the dizzy heights...