Crystal Palace beat Wolves comfortably at Molineux, as Bruno Lage’s side continue to collapse.
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Jean-Philippe Mateta put Palace ahead early on and Wilfried Zaha continued his fine form as he slammed home a penalty kick to make it 2-0.
Wolves never really got going in this game as Lage’s side have lost three in a row and Palace have now won back-to-back away games and are three games unbeaten as Patrick Vieira’s side have pushed themselves back into the battle to finish in the top 10.
As for Wolves, they have lost serious momentum in their battle to qualify for Europe.
Wolves vs Crystal Palace final score, stats
Wolves 0-2 Crystal Palace
Goals scored: Mateta 19', Zaha 34'
Shots: Wolves 12, Crystal Palace 12
Shots on target: Wolves 5, Crystal Palace 8
Possession: Wolves 65, Crystal Palace 35
Three things we learned from Wolves vs Crystal Palace
1. Eagles score early to set them up: Patrick Vieira’s side usually start games really well but haven’t been able to turn their fast starts into goals. They did that at Wolves and never looked back. This was a proper away day display as Olise, Zaha and Mateta caused so many problems on the break and Gallagher linked everything up. The 2-0 goal lead allowed them to sit back in the second half and there was a maturity about this Palace display. They have steadied the ship after a rough few months and look set for a top 10 push.
2. Wolves in a rut: At some point their defensive solidity was going to break down and it has in dramatic fashion in the last week. Three-straight defeats to Arsenal, West Ham and Palace has seen Wolves go from top four contenders to Europa League hopefuls. Their amazing form to get them in a great position to qualify for Europe was built on a solid defensive unit but they started this game slowly and their confidence seemed to be hit by losing late on at Arsenal last week.
3. Goals remain the issue for Wolves: They have scored the third lowest amount of goals in the PL this season and Lage’s side just don’t create many openings. They rely on fine strikes from outside the box but when they go behind, they can’t seem to carve out chances when they are given so much of the ball. They had 65 percent possession but did very little with it and Wolves are having a tough time with Raul Jimenez struggling to regain his previous form and other forward options in and out of fitness.
Man of the Match: Wilfried Zaha - Ran Wolves all over the place throughout the game, set up the first goal and smashed home a penalty. Three goals in his last three PL games.
Eagles fly out of the traps
Early on Tyrick Mitchell almost got in down the left after good work from Mateta, while Jeffrey Schlupp also went close to giving Palace the lead.
Wolves’ couldn’t get control of the game early on, as Palace then took a deserved lead. Wilfried Zaha was played in by Conor Gallagher and his ball to the near post was flicked home by Mateta as Jose Sa was caught out.
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Palace then won a penalty before half time as Max Kilman took out Schlupp and Zaha smashed home the spot kick to double the Eagles’ advantage.
Before the break Jose Sa denied Gallagher, Zaha had another effort blocked and Sa tipped away Michael Olise’s effort as Wolves were all over the place.
Wolves huff and puff
In the second half Wolves chucked on Raul Jimenez and although they had plenty of the ball, they never really forced Vicente Guaita into making a save and Palace were happy to soak up the pressure.
This was a very routine win for Vieira’s side, as Wolves couldn’t make their possession count.
