Crystal Palace 2-1 Wolves: Wilfried Zaha winner helps Eagles come from behind for victory

2 years ago 26

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Wilfried Zaha's well-taken winner capped a classy Crystal Palace comeback as the Eagles recorded back-to-back home victories by beating managerless Wolves.

Adama Traore's header earned the visitors a deserved half-time lead that was almost doubled when Ruben Neves hit the post right on the stroke of half-time at Selhurst Park.

But Palace never looked back once Eberechi Eze nodded them level from Michael Olise's pinpoint cross just 63 seconds into the second half.

Zaha then took Odsonne Edouard's pass in his stride before drilling past Jose Sa for his fifth goal of the season to lift Palace up to 10th place in the Premier League table.

Wolves, linked with former Ajax and Borussia Dortmund boss Peter Bosz as the latest name in their search for a successor to Bruno Lage, remain 17th, just one point above the relegation places.

They came close to rescuing a point in London but Neves' late strike was superbly beaten away by Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.

Entertaining affair surpasses humble expectations

Given Palace had scored just four goals in their previous five games and Wolves had only managed that meagre tally all season, a thriller was not exactly expected but both sides served up a pleasant surprise.

The tone was set after just four minutes as Cheick Doucoure rattled Wolves' post from 20 yards and Guaita had to react smartly to keep out Diego Costa at the other end soon after.

Wolves then opened the scoring to end an away goal drought just five minutes shy of eight hours - 475 minutes to be precise - dating back to the opening day of the season.

Adama Traore's 31st-minute effort was the winger's first headed goal in English football.

It was worth the wait as 20-year-old full-back Hugo Bueno, making his first Wanderers start, put in a teasing deep cross for Traore to bury a header inside Guaita's near post.

However, the game turned either side of the interval as Neves' 25-yard free-kick came back off the post just before the break and Eze headed Palace level right after the restart.

If that was a cool finish, Zaha trumped it with the winner, sending Sa the wrong way after a clever touch from Edouard's low ball afforded him the freedom of the Wolves box.

More to follow.

Player of the match

EzeEberechi Eze

with an average of 7.35

Crystal Palace

Squad number10Player nameEze
Squad number11Player nameZaha
Squad number22Player nameÉdouard
Squad number9Player nameJ Ayew
Squad number7Player nameOlise
Squad number16Player nameAndersen
Squad number28Player nameDoucouré
Squad number14Player nameMateta
Squad number6Player nameGuéhi
Squad number44Player nameRiedewald
Squad number13Player nameGuaita
Squad number3Player nameMitchell
Squad number15Player nameSchlupp
Squad number2Player nameWard

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Squad number37Player nameTraoré
Squad number8Player nameRúben Neves
Squad number64Player nameBueno
Squad number29Player nameDiego Costa
Squad number6Player nameTraoré
Squad number4Player nameCollins
Squad number1Player nameJosé Sá
Squad number22Player nameNélson Semedo
Squad number23Player nameKilman
Squad number27Player nameMatheus Nunes
Squad number10Player nameDaniel Podence
Squad number59Player nameHodge
Squad number28Player nameJoão Moutinho
Squad number17Player nameGonçalo Guedes
Squad number11Player nameHwang Hee-Chan

Line-ups

Crystal Palace

Formation 4-3-3

13Guaita
2WardBooked at 39mins
16Andersen
6GuéhiBooked at 90mins
3Mitchell
15Schlupp
28DoucouréBooked at 45mins
10EzeSubstituted forRiedewaldat 90'minutes
7OliseSubstituted forJ Ayewat 80'minutes
22ÉdouardSubstituted forMatetaat 81'minutes
11Zaha

Substitutes

4Milivojevic
5Tomkins
9J Ayew
14Mateta
21Johnstone
23Ebiowei
43Balmer
44Riedewald
63Goodman

Wolves

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Malheiro de Sá
22Nélson Semedo
4Collins
23Kilman
64Bueno
6TraoréBooked at 39minsSubstituted forJoão Moutinhoat 58'minutes
8Neves
37TraoréSubstituted forGonçalo Guedesat 58'minutes
27NunesSubstituted forHodgeat 58'minutes
10Podence
29Diego CostaSubstituted forHwang Hee-Chanat 75'minutes

Substitutes

11Hwang Hee-Chan
13Sarkic
14Mosquera
17Gonçalo Guedes
19Castro Otto
25Ronan
28João Moutinho
59Hodge
77Campbell

Live Text

Match ends, Crystal Palace 2, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1.
Second Half ends, Crystal Palace 2, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1.
Foul by Jeffrey Schlupp (Crystal Palace).
Daniel Podence (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Hwang Hee-Chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card.
Foul by Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace).
Hwang Hee-Chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Crystal Palace. Jairo Riedewald replaces Eberechi Eze.
Offside, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Joseph Hodge tries a through ball, but Gonçalo Guedes is caught offside.
Foul by Joel Ward (Crystal Palace).
Daniel Podence (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Gonçalo Guedes (Wolverhampton Wanderers).
Attempt saved. Rúben Neves (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Daniel Podence.
Attempt missed. Gonçalo Guedes (Wolverhampton Wanderers) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left.
Attempt missed. João Moutinho (Wolverhampton Wanderers) left footed shot from the left side of the box is too high.
Substitution, Crystal Palace. Jean-Philippe Mateta replaces Odsonne Édouard.
Substitution, Crystal Palace. Jordan Ayew replaces Michael Olise.

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