Mateta's hat trick helps Crystal Palace rout Aston Villa 5-0 on final day of Premier League
LONDON (AP) — Jean-Philippe Mateta’s hat trick capped off an emphatic 5-0 victory for Crystal Palace over Aston Villa on Sunday as the London club equaled its best ever finish to a Premier League season.
The win means Palace finished on 49 points in 10th place after winning six of its last seven games under Oliver Glasner. Aston Villa had already secured fourth place and a place in next season’s Champions League, and played like a team that had nothing at stake.
Mateta, meanwhile, has now scored nine in the last eight and became the first Palace player to net a hat trick in a Premier League match at Selhurst Park.
The Frenchman opened the scoring nine minutes into the game and doubled the lead in the 39th.
Eberechi Eze made it 3-0 in the 54th and Mateta completed his hat trick nine minutes later against a lackluster Villa side. Eze added his second goal to cap the rout in the 69th.
Villa manager Unai Emery included his son Lander Emery — a goalkeeper — on the substitutes bench, with regular No. 1 Emi Martinez out with an injury. ___
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