Wolves 2 Crystal Palace 0 - Report

With the hosts coming off a loss to Leicester and Palace unbeaten in four coming into the game, form was against Wolves as they returned to Molineux.

But that counted for very little after just two minutes, when Joachim Andersen turned the ball into his own net from a Wolves corner, to hand the hosts the lead.

Following a good spell for Wolves, in which they failed to find a second goal, the contest hit a lull as neither side got the fans off their seats.

However, Jose Sa was called upon to make a couple of strong saves, as Wolves rode their luck.

Heading into the second half, Wolves were half asleep in the opening stages but survived some Palace attacks, before launching some forays forward of their own.

The second 45 saw the momentum switch hands on several occasions, but as the nerves kicked in, Palace began to dominate.

Several half chances and set pieces came and went, but Wolves stood firm defensively, and also relied on Sa, to keep their lead.

Wolves switched to a back five with five minutes of added time to play, before a moment of madness from former Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone saw him take out Pedro Neto and hand Wolves a penalty.

Ruben Neves stepped up to slot it into the bottom corner, as Wolves picked up a huge three points.

Analysis

Julen Lopetegui made three changes to his side, but stuck with the 4-4-2 formation.

Hugo Bueno, Ruben Neves, and Hwang Hee-chan came in, as Toti Gomes, Joao Gomes and Pablo Sarabia dropped to the bench.

Once again, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Jonny Castro Otto, Boubacar Traore and Raul Jimenez were left out of the squad.

Roy Hodgson made four changes to his Palace side, who started in a 4-3-3 formation.

Chris Richards, Luka Milivojevic, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Will Hughes came in, as Joel Ward, Cheick Doucoure, Jeffrey Schlupp and Odsonne Edouard dropped to the bench.

Palace were also without their injured talisman Wilfried Zaha.

The first chance of the game fell to Diego Costa when he brought down Bueno’s cross and saw his shot deflected wide. From the resulting corner, Neves whipped it in and Andersen turned the ball into his own net, off the crossbar, to give Wolves a lead within two minutes.

With the home crowd buoyed, Nelson Semedo’s low cross was almost met by Matheus Cunha, as Wolves chased a second.

In an attempt to silence the home crowd, Jordan Ayew had a good chance for Palace but Craig Dawson made a strong block.

The visitors were enjoying more of the ball after the quick Wolves start, and Lokonga had a glorious chance when Michael Olise played him in, but the midfielder slipped before he could control the ball and the chance was lost.

With neither side creating any more chances by the 30th minute, the game had become fairly dull and the atmosphere matched the action.

Palace did create a good chance with some nice forward play, however, and Sa pulled off a strong save to deny Lokonga.

Wolves managed the game well in the closing minutes to take their 1-0 lead into the break.

As the second half got underway, Palace brought Ward on for Anderson and moved Richards to centre-back.

Wolves did not make a strong start to the half, but had a half chance when Costa teed-up Hwang. The forward was crowded out as he took aim and Neves’ follow-up was blocked.

The home side, and crowd, then woke up when Bueno and Matheus Nunes combined down the left and the latter danced into the box, before having his effort blocked.

Dawson had a decent opportunity from a corner, but saw his header blaze over the bar.

With the midfield battle a key one, Wolves brought on Gomes after 68 minutes for Cunha and switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Nerves were beginning to creep in for Wolves, with the end in sight and a valuable three points, but the players were doing a good job of keeping a lid on the occasion. After 70 minutes, Wolves were able to slow down the contest and frustrate Palace.

But that was still a dangerous tactic as Palace posed a threat. An avoidable mistake from Semedo sold Hwang short and the visitors broke forward. Dawson was forced into a block initially, before Sa pulled off a magnificent save to tip Eberechi Eze’s effort over the bar.

That started a period of Palace pressure as they had several set pieces cleared, and Wolves hung on to their lead.

Recognising that pressure, Lopetegui then brought on Toti and Adama Traore, for Bueno and Hwang after 78 minutes.

Wolves saw two counter-attacks, through Adama and Costa, but failed to capitalise on them as they kept their slender lead.

Another change, as Nathan Collins came on, saw Wolves switch to a back five with five minutes of added time to play.

Then, out of nowhere, Wolves got a penalty when Johnstone’s heavy touch saw Neto pounce and the goalkeeper took the forward out. He could have seen red, but was only booked, before Neves slotted the ball into the bottom corner.

In what was the final action of the game, Wolves secured a monumental win in their fight for survival.

Key Moments

GOAL 2 Andersen scores an own goal

GOAL 94 Neves finishes from the penalty spot

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Bueno (Toti, 78), Nunes (Collins, 89), Neves, Lemina, Hwang (Adama, 78), Cunha (Gomes, 68), Costa (Neto, 89).

Subs not used: Bentley, Moutinho, Podence, Sarabia.

Crystal Palace: Johnstone, Richards, Guehi, Andersen (Ward, 45), Mitchell, Milivojevic (Schlupp, 45), Hughes (Mateta, 89), Lokonga (Edouard, 64), Eze, Ayew, Olise.

Subs not used: Guaita, Tomkins, Riedewald, McArthur, Doucoure.