MARC GUEHI grabbed his third goal of the season and added another few million pounds to his rising price tag.
The English defender is being closely watched by Chelsea and Newcastle United, among others.
And he showed why with a sweetly struck volley to complement Jean-Philippe's second-half opener as he defeated Leicester City to condemn them to a sixth straight league defeat.
Palace survived a first-half attack but were a different beast after the break as they exposed the Foxes' defensive weaknesses.
How Ruud van Nistelrooy wishes he had a defender of Guehi's class to call on.
Instead he faced angry Foxes fans, who spent much of the second half demanding the resignation of Leicester's director of football Jon Rudkin.
And it could have been even more if Jakub Stolarczyk hadn't punched away Ismaila Sarr's injury-time goal.
There were mixed fortunes for the rival bosses ahead of kick-off as their pre-match preparation was dominated by a tale of two defenders.
Leicester boss Ruud Van Nistelrooy got one when he signed Parma full-back Woyo Coulibaly on a four-and-a-half-year deal for £1.9 million.
And the 25-year-old Frenchman was well bundled up in the King Power booth as he took in the action here.
That was in stark contrast to Palace boss Oliver Glasner, who lost star stopper Trevoh Chalobah, who was recalled by Chelsea midway through his season-long loan.
Without him, Palace looked nervous and anxious at the back, but the Foxes failed to convert the win despite having a number of good chances.
The Eagles' confidence should have soared coming into this match on the back of a four-match unbeaten run.
But some sluggish defending in the opening minute allowed Bilal El Khannouss to rob the ball and feed Jamie Vardy, whose instinctive flick was deflected straight into the waiting mitts of Dean Henderson.
Palace ignored the warning and went back to sleep moments later when Wout Faes' long ball from the defense allowed Vardy to clear from Max Lacroix and Marc Guehi.
Vardy collected the ball early and neatly on the run and beat Henderson, but the ball flew agonizingly inches wide.
El Khannouss was the next Fox to try his luck with a 25-yarder which Henderson saved and the keeper was soon back in action as Leicester continued to surge forward.
This time Stephy Mavididi delivered a perfect ball into Vardy's path and the experienced striker outpaced Guehi, but his vicious shot was straight at Henderson, who punched it clear.
However, for all their pressure, it was Leicester who were fortunate not to fall behind just before the half-hour mark as Mateta squandered his first big chance of the evening.
Victor Kristiansen's careless clearance crashed into Daniel Munoz and landed at Mateta's feet.
But the attacker sat back and carelessly threw the ball over the crossbar from twelve meters.
It was a glaring miss, but the 27-year-old Frenchman atoned six minutes after the break as Palace ruthlessly exposed Leicester's soft center.
Ismaila Sarr pushed aside Stephy Mavididi as he robbed him of possession before playing in Mateta.
The powerful striker simply shrugged off Jannick Vestergaard, who gave up the ghost far too easily, and Metata surrounded Jakub Stolarczyk and rolled the ball into the gaping net.
It was Mateta's ninth goal of the season in all competitions for the Eagles and it deflated the Foxes.
Sarr almost set up another when he played in Tyrick Mitchell, but Stolarczyk bravely blocked the full-back's effort from point blank range.
Vardy did his best to rally his side with a shot on the swivel that crept just wide.
And Leicester came even closer when Boubakary Soumare pushed Kasey McAteer's cross over Henderson before the ball bounced off the crossbar.
Vardy just failed to guide McAteer's cross on goal at the back post before Palace took all three points.
Eberechi Eze whipped a free-kick towards the far post from 40 yards out and Marc Guehi crept to McAteer's blind side to beat Stolarczyk with a sweetly struck volley at his near post.
That extended the Eagles' unbeaten run to five games and saw them surpass Manchester United in the table.
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