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Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Crystal Palace 2 | Talking Points

Crystal Palace came home happy with three points from Molineux yet a lacklustre game was engulfed by an aura of ‘what if?’ in the West Midlands.

Wolves returned to Molineaux on the back of a terrific comeback win against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, keen to stretch that form back to home turf. Any vestiges of a fighting, gritty and pacey Wolves side were soon vapourised, for the hosts and the Eagles played out a casual, low tempo first half.

That is not to say that effort wasn’t made, for it certainly was, but it was a rather weary contest with little to no bite. Rui Patricio was the first keeper called into action and this was on the 20th minute, nine minutes after Matt Doherty’s boot produced the first shot of the game. Willy Boly’s free header from a corner on the stroke of half-time was skewed well wide and Doherty’s attempt to redirect the ball’s trajectory was unsuccessful, producing a fitting final play to sum up the half.

Wolves returned from the tunnel the stronger of the two sides and while Raul Jimenez took it upon himself to conjure up something, his efforts from the central striker’s position or the left flank came to little avail.

Nine minutes from time, Wolves’ defensive resistance was broken, albeit inadvertently, by Jordan Ayew, who positioned himself at the right place (on the edge of the 6-yard box), at the right time, to commendably control and steer home Patrick van Aanholt’s miscued shot.

Wilfrid Zaha went to ground deep into injury time, having been felled by Jonny, and this time the referee saw enough in the challenge to award a penalty to Palace, which Luka Milivoijevic duly converted with authority to send the Londoners home happy.

Zaha’s goal drought

Wilfrid Zaha extended his goalless run to 14 games, his last league goal coming way back in matchweek five, against Huddersfield Town. In the absence of his contributions, Palace have found goals a tad hard to come by; their match-winner on Wednesday scoring his first for the club on his 15th run out. They sit 14th in the table, having bulged the net 19 times from 21 games. One hopes, for their sake, that this successful game catalyses a Jordan Ayew scoring spree; for their move for Dominic Solanke seems to have stagnated due to concerns over fitness and another attacking player in Jason Puncheon looks set to depart the club.

Molineux’s point drought

Molineux provided a ferocious welcome to the Premier League in the 2-2 draw against Everton in the opening week being topped by the draw to the defending champions, Man City. However, in recent weeks, Molineux has looked lesser and lesser like a fortress, for Wolves have taken only six out of the last 21 points available to them on their home turf.

Something has to give and it must not be Wolves giving up more points at home.



Record signing – not good enough for the starting XI?

Adame Traore became Wolves’s record signing when he signed in an £18 million deal from ‘Boro. The pacey winger, well famed for his Gareth Bale-esque style of taking on his opponents 1v1 and leaving them in his wake as he sprints past them with ease, has not managed to start and finish one full game for the club since his arrival. This comes as a bit of a surprise given that Wolves have just emerged from a torrid winter session in the league and that peak fitness and lack of fatigue were at a premium.

They now seem set to sign Tammy Abraham from Chelsea for a reportedly identical fee, but the question once more arises: will their record signings actually improve the best crop of players that Nuno Espirito Santo sends out on the pitch?

What lies ahead for the Eagles?

Roy Hodgson was confident about his team’s performance and reinforced the idea that their position in a table gives a false sense of the nature of proceedings. Palace currently sit 14th in the league table, having taken 22 points from 21 games. They would have liked to improve upon last season’s finish of 11th (which was remarkable in itself considering they were dead in the water at the infancy of the season), but find themselves bereft of their target.

Safety will not be an immediate concern for Hodgson, for they sit six points above the relegation zone. But that being said, four of their next five games are against teams within eight points of them. Hodgson will be looking to amass a minimum of 8 points from the next five games, with wins against a revitalised Southampton and an ambitious, yet faltering Fulham, essential.

Ayush Verma

20. Student at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Manchester City correspondent for 90MAAT

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