Crystal Palace 3 Wolves 2 - report

Having failed to win away against Crystal Palace in each of their last four trips to south London, they quickly made it five with a defensively poor showing.

After a disappointing first half, Odsonne Edouard opening the scoring after finishing off a simple Palace attack.

Wolves quickly got themselves back into through a Hwang Hee-chan finish, before the hosts’ superior creativity came to the fore.

Eberechi Eze made it 2-1 with a low finish, before Edouard rounded-off another nice move to add a third.

Wolves had more possession in the final chapter of the fixture and found a goal through Matheus Cunha late on, but it was not enough to draw level as they fell to defeat.

Analysis

Gary O’Neil made two changes from the win over Everton, as Wolves stuck with the 4-4-1-1 formation.

Rayan Ait-Nouri and Pablo Sarabia came in for Hugo Bueno and Hwang, who both dropped to the bench.

New signing Enso Gonzalez was handed an opportunity among the substitute, alongside young striker Nathan Fraser.

Roy Hodgson named an unchanged Palace side after their 1-1 draw with Brentford, as they started in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Wolves made a steady start to the game and looked after possession well, as they looked to find space going forward.

A Pedro Neto cross caused panic in the Palace box when Joachim Andersen cleared it at his near post, but almost turned it into his own net.

Once Palace found their feet they were causing problem through Eze and they almost had a penalty when Joao Gomes caught the Palace forward. Referee Robert Jones did not give it and after a thorough check, VAR did not overturn the decision.

Moments later, Jose Sa played a dangerous pass into Gomes, who had the ball stolen, and Jordan Ayew had an open goal from close range. However, Max Kilman made a wonderful goal-line clearance to keep the contest at 0-0.

Palace continued to threaten and Eze was running the show for them as he continuously picked up dangerous positions.

Edouard tested Sa with a near post shot, before Neto forced Sam Johnstone into tipping his effort over the bar.

In what was hardly a good game for the neutral, both sides were struggling to make simple passes – albeit Palace had the better of the chances as the teams entered half-time drawing 0-0.

The start of the second half continued where the first left off, with neither side keeping possession or making it an exciting contest.

When Wolves did look after the ball and keep it in the final third, to the home crowd’s frustration, their ponderous approach saw them struggle to create chances.

All the game needed was a simple, but effective, attacking move and the hosts created it after 56 minutes. Tyrick Mitchell was found on the left and his inviting low cross was met by Edouard at the near post, who tapped home after getting in front of Kilman.

Despite that setback, it took Wolves less than 10 minutes to draw level. Neto did well to win a free-kick on the left and his excellent delivery from the set piece was met by Hwang at the near post, who saw his looping header find the far corner – although he was fortunate as the ball actually hit his shoulder on the way through.

Palace responded fairly well and Edouard saw a header saved by Sa, before the goalkeeper made a strong stop to deny Ayew’s effort.

Wolves were being over-run in midfield and O’Neil brought on battler Boubacar Traore for Fabio Silva after 73 minutes, to shore-up the middle of the park.

Sa made another huge stop when Eze took aim from a free-kick, but moments later the attacker had his goal. A long ball was flicked on by Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eze picked it up before finding the bottom corner.

Wolves were struggling at the back and another slick move, that once again involved Mateta, saw the hosts open up the defence with ease before Edouard fired home his second.

Eze almost had his second with a low effort that Sa did well to get down to.

O’Neil’s side had more possession in the final minutes of the game, but created next to nothing as they wilted under Palace’s pressure.

Cunha headed home late on with a consolation goal, as Wolves fell to defeat.

Key Moments

GOAL 56 Edouard puts Palace ahead

GOAL 65 Hwang equalises for Wolves

GOAL 78 Eze makes it 2-1

GOAL 84 Edouard gets his second

GOAL 90+6 Cunha scores for Wolves

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Ait-Nouri (H.Bueno, 81), Sarabia (Hwang, 59), Gomes (Kalajdzic, 81), Lemina, Neto, Cunha, Silva (Traore, 73).

Subs not used: Bentley, Toti, Doherty, Gonzalez, Fraser.

Crystal Palace: Johnstone, Ward, Guehi, Andersen, Mitchell, Lerma, Doucoure, Ayew, Eze, Schlupp (Mateta, 71), Edouard (Hughes, 90).

Subs not used: Henderson, Tomkins, Richards, Riedewald, Clyne, Ahamada, Rak-Sakyi.