ZAHA FUMES AT MATETA OVER ‘NASTY’ PALACE REMARK — FANS SHOCKED BY WAR OF WORDS
Wilfried Zaha launches an angry video response after Jean-Philippe Mateta's interview. Mateta claimed Zaha laughed at his France dreams at Crystal Palace. Zaha denies the "disgusting" and "nasty" claims, insisting he was supportive of his former teammate.
In an angry tirade, Wilfred Zaha has attacked Jean-Philippe Mateta regarding his former Crystal Palace teammate.
Zaha criticized Mateta for providing a "disgusting" and "nasty" interview in which Mateta said Zaha made fun of his desire to play for France.
"At Crystal Palace, right at the start, when I was not even playing, I spoke about the France team in the changing room, and I had teammates like Wilfried Zaha who were laughing," Mateta said in an interview with the French newspaper L'Equipe after scoring his first goal for France this week.
"When I was not even playing at Crystal Palace, they said that I was crazy to think about the France team, but I replied that it was my goal and that I just had to play to prove myself."
After two years of playing with Mateta at Palace before joining Galatasaray in 2023, Zaha was incensed by the remarks and responded with a video.
"My brain is burning," Zaha, who currently plays for Charlotte of the MLS, stated.
"I need to resolve this Mateta issue. Since he is unwilling to, he told me he did not want to and that he was fine with it.
"This only demonstrates that the individuals who saw me while I performed for Crystal Palace were obviously unhappy for me.
"Because I never gave somebody a 's***' feeling." Everybody knows who I am. I only take the pitch when I am feeling really enthusiastic and all that. However, I would never intimidate someone or say anything like, "I do not think you will make it here, or you would not make it at all."
"Seeing someone I thought was a friend act in such a way disgusts me.
There were ten players with whom he spoke about his prospects of playing for France back when he was not playing for Palace.
We were making jokes, but as friends, we laughed it off. It will be challenging, particularly with Benzema and all of these players filling those roles.
However, we never once mentioned that you would not succeed.
If this individual had said that I harbored hatred, would you not be shocked? He would speak my name, but why? When ten people were present. Is it because the most well-known name is Zaha?
"It is awful; I do not comprehend." I have never been mean to anyone. I am now receiving texts that say, "Oh, you are not joking about Mateta anymore." Well done to him; I could not be more pleased.
I even openly complimented him on Instagram. It is like, "What the f***?" to hear that narrative.
Did you always think poorly of me? I will utilize Zaha as my coming-up tale for you to come out with this, your come-up narrative.
"Dude, it is horrible. It is unpleasant.
"I do not have any football pals because of this. How is he going to accomplish that, which is why I keep to myself?
AWONIYI DOUBLE LEAVES NOTTINGHAM FOREST ON THE VERGE OF PREMIER LEAGUE SAFETY
Nottingham Forest moved closer to safety with a 3-1 win over Chelsea, while West Ham fell into the relegation zone after Spurs won.
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Nottingham Forest came out of the weekend looking pretty safe after pulling off an impressive 3-1 win at Chelsea. They’re almost clear of the relegation mess. Tottenham’s big away win at Aston Villa shook things up too, and now West Ham are back in the bottom three, running out of time faster than ever.
Forest have stepped up just when they needed to, leaving West Ham and Tottenham behind with a string of solid performances. Honestly, no one saw this coming, especially since Vitor Pereira shuffled his lineup with eight changes, fresh off a Europa League win against Aston Villa.
Even so, Forest were ahead within 90 seconds, thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s quick strike. By the 15th minute, Igor Jesus calmly buried a penalty after Malo Gusto’s reckless foul in the box. Chelsea had a chance to get back in it, but Cole Palmer wasted a penalty right before the break after a scary head collision involving Jesse Derry.
Awoniyi doubled down and scored again early in the second half, pushing Forest six points ahead of West Ham with just three games left.
West Ham’s weekend started badly; they looked flat and lost to Brentford. Things got worse Sunday night when Tottenham pulled off their first back-to-back Premier League wins since August 2025, beating a heavily rotated Aston Villa side 2-1.
Forest is now out of West Ham’s reach, or almost. Tottenham’s still close enough for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team to worry, but with three tough games coming up, Spurs could stay up even without another win, unless West Ham digs deep and pulls off something unexpected before their home finale against Leeds.
Right now, Forest can practically taste safety. Spurs finally see a way out after weeks of struggle. As for West Ham, they’re left hoping for a miracle, a last-minute twist to dodge the drop.
CESC FABREGAS CONFIRMS INTEREST IN PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN AMID CHELSEA'S MANAGER SEARCH
As Chelsea searches for a new manager, Cesc Fabregas breaks his silence on his future at Como and his Premier League ambitions.
Cesc Fabregas recalls exactly how a conversation with Jose Mourinho prompted him to join Chelsea, despite having the opportunity to return to Arsenal.
After winning six trophies in just three seasons, the Spanish World Cup winner left Barcelona for the second time in 2014. That summer, Fabregas made a move back to the Premier League, signing with Chelsea for about €33 million.
He already knew English football well. Fabregas had arrived at Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona in 2003 and made 212 Premier League appearances for them. When he decided to leave Barcelona, Manchester City also wanted him, but Chelsea convinced him, mostly thanks to Mourinho.
Talking with talkSPORT’s Rory Jennings on YouTube, Fabregas laid out how it all happened. “Honestly, when I made up my mind to leave Barcelona, my first thought was just to go back to Arsenal. They had this buyback clause; they had two weeks to use it after I told them I was leaving. They knew about it but didn’t take it. That surprised me a little, but in the end, I had to think about my career. I was 27, at the peak of my career, and I wanted to continue performing and winning trophies. City and Chelsea were both options.
“But when Mourinho spoke to me, that was it. He showed me his plans for the team and told me about Diego Costa, Courtois, and Filipe Luis and how, with those guys, we’d win the league. He was right, by the way. We won both the Premier League and the Carling Cup.”
Fabregas wasted no time winning over Chelsea fans. On his debut at Burnley, he set up two goals, including a stunning assist for Andre Schurrle. He finished his first season at Chelsea with five goals and 24 assists, along with Premier League and League Cup medals.
Things dipped the next season. Fabregas got just 15 goal contributions, and Chelsea slipped all the way to tenth. But when Antonio Conte took charge in 2016-17, they bounced back, and Fabregas picked up another league title.
He added an FA Cup win in 2018, his second, after his earlier one with Arsenal, and left for Monaco a few months later. His last Chelsea match came in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. When he got subbed off, he couldn’t hold back tears.
Chelsea supporters still sing about him; that “Oh, Fabregas is magic...” chant sticks around. And with his name in the conversation for a possible return, maybe they haven’t seen the last of him yet.
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