Forgotten Premier League ace hopes for Haaland 'dream' after Liverpool chance
As baptisms of fire go, dealing with Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland in your first two Premier League outings is up there, but Remi Matthews isn't getting carried away.
After a decade spent in the Championship and below, the well-travelled goalkeeper joined Crystal Palace in the summer of 2021. He has been made to wait for his top-flight chance, though, and spent time out on loan last season as youngster Joe Whitworth was called into action during the run-in.
Matthews, 29, began this season as third choice, but Dean Henderson has struggled with injury since his summer move from Manchester United. That meant a spot on the bench for the number three, and that turned into a late cameo from the bench in Saturday's last-gasp defeat against Liverpool after first-choice (and Matthews' good friend) Sam Johnstone was forced off with around five minutes of regulation time to play.
The afternoon ended painfully for Matthews as Harvey Elliott fired home a last-minute winner, but there could be bigger tests on the way. Palace travel to the Etihad Stadium next weekend, a fixture which saw them done in by an Erling Haaland hat-trick last season, but these are the moments Matthews lives for.
"I'm 29 now. I've been in the game long enough, waited my chance and worked hard enough on the training pitch," Matthews said. "I got an opportunity and we'll see what happens next Saturday.
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"Yeah well, this is what you live for," he said when asked about potentially being the last line of defence against Haaland. "The dream has come true I guess. We'll see, I don't want to wish anything on Sam. I hope he recovers well and we'll see what happens on Saturday."
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Remi Matthews was helpless to keep out Harvey Elliott's winner (AP)Palace were under pressure after a tame defeat at home to Bournemouth in midweek. However, the Eagles delivered a response against manager Roy Hodgson's former club Liverpool, leading 1-0 before a Jordan Ayew red card let their opponents back into the game.
Mohamed Salah levelled things up, scoring with the aid of a deflection to bring up 200 in Liverpool colours, and Matthews entered the fray a few minutes later when it was clear Johnstone was unable to continue. However, he was helpless to stop the winner from Elliott, who was allowed too much space to drive at goal before drilling left-footed past the substitute keeper.
"If you make the save it's a worldie, if it goes in it's a great finish," Matthews admitted. Despite the result, though, he argued the performance was indicative of a team ready to put everything on the line for veteran boss Hodgson.
"It shows that everyone is with the manager," he said. "The manager has been brilliant. This is the first season I've been with him, I was on loan last year. He has been excellent and nobody will say anything different."
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