Hopes of Europe fade as Wolves are outplayed
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 v Crystal Palace 2
Wolves entertained Crystal Palace at the Molineux on the back of two somewhat dispiriting away defeats at first Arsenal and then West Ham. Only three days separated the two games and possibly explained Wolves’ lacklustre performance at the London Stadium last Sunday, possession football played at a snail’s pace with barely a strike on goal. It had all the hallmarks of Nuno in his losing the plot year and was in stark contrast to the upbeat manner that has characterised much of their play this season.
For their part Crystal Palace, under Patrick Viera, are making steady progress following the retirement of Roy Hodgson. Palace tend to be a bit of a bogey team for Wolves, Dougie Freedman causing Old Gold heartache in a Championship Play-Off some while back. Which is as it worked out again today as the visitors proved both stronger and quicker to the ball fashioning a solid away win which further dents Wolves’ outside hopes of qualifying for Europe.
You sensed it was not going to be Wolves’ day when it took them a full eleven minutes to reach the Crystal Palace box. Yet the momentum remained with visitors who in minute 18 opened their account. Conor Gallager picked out Wilfried Saha who from the bye-line squeezed the ball past Romain Saiss and Jose Sa leaving Jean-Philippe Mateta with a simple tap in. Ten minutes later Wolves were caught in possession in their own third the ball reaching Jeffrey Schlupp who advanced on goal only to be tripped by an out of sorts Max Kilman. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot from where the ever popular Zaha converted.
One might have thought a half time shake up was in order but as the home side appeared for the second half the formation and mode of play remained the same. And it would not be until the introduction of Raul Jimenez, with half an hour still remaining, that Wolves started to look more threatening. It’s very much a relative term as clear-cut chances remained elusive.
Daniel Podence leading the line? Boring possession football? An unyielding and difficult opponent? Ergo; a half empty stadium with ten minutes of the game still remaining. Not good.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Sa 7, Hoever 4 Sub Castro Otto 6, Kilman 5 Sub Jimenez, Coady 6, Saiss 6, Marcal 6, Neves 6, Moutinho 7, Hwang He-Chan 6, Podence 6, Neto 5 Sub Oliveira
Crystal Palace: Guaita 6, Clyne 6, Anderson 6, Guehi 6, Mitchell 6, Gallagher 7, Kouyate 6 Sub Milovojevic, Schlupp 7, Olise 7 Sub Hughes, Matata 7 Sub Benteke, Zaha 7
Attendance: 31,395
Referee: A Madley 8
©Mark Brennand