Wolves 2 Crystal Palace 2 - Report

An uninspiring but fairly even first half saw two teams lacking any real quality get through to half-time drawing 0-0.

But after the hour mark Palace took the lead through Trevoh Chalobah as a section of the home support began to turn on head coach Gary O’Neil.

That anger quickly turned to joy when Jorgen Strand Larsen and Joao Gomes both scored within five minutes to give Wolves the lead and the hope of a first three points.

But more poor defending allowed Marc Guehi to grab a 77th minute equaliser and dash those Wolves hopes.

Analysis

O’Neil made one change to his side following the draw at Brighton.

Pablo Sarabia came in for his first Premier League start of the season, replacing captain Mario Lemina who dropped to the bench after picking up a calf issue.

Summer signing Sam Johnstone, who O’Neil confirmed was fit again after an adductor complaint, was not included in the squad.

Palace had some injury issues from their midweek win over Villa in the Carabao Cup, with key players Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton both sidelined.

With some of Wolves’ bottom half Premier League opponents picking up points, the pressure was on in a huge fixture at Molineux.

But Wolves responded to the home crowd’s encouragement with a strong start, as they put the visitors under pressure with a handful of set pieces.

Despite that, the first big chance fell to Palace. Sarabia gave the ball away and the visitors were quick on the transition to turn attack into defence.

The ball dropped to Will Hughes on the edge of the box but his shot, which looked set to bulge the net, was blocked by Craig Dawson and Daichi Kamada’s follow-up was collected by Jose Sa.

At the other end, Rayan Ait-Nouri had a sight of goal but dragged his effort wide on his weak foot.

A superb ball over the top from Toti Gomes found Ait-Nouri, who saw his low cross aimed at Larsen cleared for a corner. From that set piece, Ait-Nouri fired over when the ball fell for him at the back post.

Palace came close again from a corner when Guehi won his header and it found Chalobah, who swung at it and missed. It then fell to Jean-Philippe Mateta who saw his shot inadvertently blocked by Chalobah and behind.

The offside flag was then raised but replays showed if either Chalobah or Mateta found the back of the net, it would have stood.

The crowd were becoming restless when Matheus Cunha curled an effort wide from a Wolves counter attack, before Palace created another effort.

Mateta had a shot blocked by Santi Bueno and from the recycled cross, Daniel Munoz headed over from close range.

Wolves then created their best chance of the half when Cunha played Sarabia through on goal. He attempted to go around Dean Henderson but the goalkeeper got a hand on the ball and the opportunity was wasted.

Another opening was then wasted by Sarabia in the box, as the teams entered half-time at 0-0.

As the second half got under way, Wolves missed out on a huge chance to take the lead.

A counter attack saw Cunha find Sarabia with just Henderson to beat, but his shot smashed the goalkeeper in the face. The game was then stopped for several minutes as Henderson received treatment on the pitch.

Palace then took the lead on the hour mark. A free-kick was played short to Hughes and then lifted into the box. Sa came to claim it but Larsen headed it straight to Chalobah, who finished into an empty net.

Boos rang around Molineux as Palace almost made it 2-0, but Mateta fired over from inside the box.

O’Neil then made a triple change and the home fans cheered Sarabia coming off, but booed Tommy Doyle coming off, followed by chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’.

Wolves were struggling to get a grip of the game and almost gave Palace a second when Nelson Semedo passed straight to Ismaila Sarr, but he shot wide.

The home fans were trying to get behind a team that was offering them very little, until Larsen netted his fourth goal of the season.

A fantastic cross-field ball from Bueno found Cunha, whose delightful touch took him beyond Chalobah. He raced forward and fed Larsen, who slotted the ball under Henderson.

Wolves were on top and buoyed by the home support, as they took the lead just five minutes after equalising.

Cunha slipped the ball into the right channel for substitute Goncalo Guedes, who intelligently pulled it back for J.Gomes to calmly place the ball into the bottom corner and send Molineux into raptures.

But that joy also lasted just five minutes as Palace equalised. Poor defending saw a corner flicked on Munoz and Guehi ghosted in at the back post unmarked to finish.

Wolves were creating problems of their own as Semedo, a player in excellent form before this game, consistently gave away possession and piled the pressure on the hosts.

It was a back-and-forth end to the game as both teams chased a winner.

Mateta had the ball in the net in the final minute but referee Anthony Taylor awarded a free-kick to Wolves for a foul on Sa by Munoz. A brief VAR check did not overturn it.

That was the last major action of the game as the two teams shared the points.

Key Moments

GOAL 60 Chalobah puts Palace in the lead

GOAL 67 Larsen equalises quickly for Wolves

GOAL 72 J.Gomes slots the visitors in front

GOAL 77 Guehi drags Palace level

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Bueno, Dawson, Toti (Bellegarde, 63), Ait-Nouri, Doyle (Lemina, 63), J.Gomes, Sarabia (Guedes, 63), Larsen, Cunha.

Subs not used: Bentley, Pond, Doherty, Andre, R.Gomes, Forbs.

Crystal Palace: Henderson, Munoz, Chalobah, Lacroix, Guehi, Mitchell, Hughes (Doucoure, 80), Kamada, Sarr (Schlupp, 89), Mateta, Nketiah (Clyne, 84).

Subs not used: Turner, Mathews, Umeh-Chibueze, Devenny, Kporha, Agbinone.