Odsonne Edouard scored twice as Crystal Palace beat Wolves in a Premier League match with a frantic finish.
Edouard opened the scoring after he got in between two Wolves defenders to finish from Tyrick Mitchell’s excellent cross.
Wolves substitute Hwang Hee-chan equalised six minutes after entering the field, getting on the end of a free-kick from Pedro Neto.
But just minutes after being denied from a free-kick by Wolves keeper Jose Sa, Eberechi Eze got on the end of a knock down from Jean-Philippe Mateta to slide home.
Then Edouard combined with Mateta and produced a calm slotted finish.
Matheus Cunha headed home from close range in added time but the points were already heading to Palace.
“He’s [Mateta] not only good at holding the ball up, he’s very skilful, very technical and he can score goals and that’s exactly what he did today,” Palace manager Roy Hodgson told BBC Match of the Day.
Slow starters come good
Hodgson’s side have been slow starters, failing to score a first-half goal in all four of their Premier League games so far.
Goals had been hard to come by with Palace scoring just two in their opening three league games.
But after a goalless first half here, Palace came to life when Edouard opened the scoring just before the hour mark.
Eze then struck after combining with Mateta, whose sublime backheel gave Edouard his second of the game – and his first Palace league double since he got two on his debut against Tottenham Hotspur two years ago.
Mateta was hugely influential off the bench with two assists – and his link-up play with Eze and Edouard gives Palace fans reason for optimism.
Asked about Mateta’s performance, Hodgson said: “His hold-up play was good, his attempts to play people in and around the penalty area were very good and he scored an excellent goal.”
Wolves leave it too late
Despite their 5-0 win over League One Blackpool in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, Wolves are not known for being particularly prolific in front of goal.
They had the better chances in the first half but couldn’t make them count.
Pedro Neto looked lively, driving through the Palace defence at one point before his shot was tipped over by Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
But it wasn’t until the introduction of Hwang that Wolves got on the scoresheet.
They did come into the game more once Palace scored, but Cunha’s late header was a mere consolation – with more frustration for a Wolves side who go into the international break with just three points.
Wolves manager Gary O’Neil told BBC Match of the Day: “Stood on the sidelines, it wasn’t a game that I thought we were going to lose. I thought we had some real good control of it.
“Obviously we suffered some big chances from our own doing, technical breakdowns with the ball, turnover, and they punished us.
“It was a big improvement today and now we need to push the lads hard to get every little drop out of them in the final third because that’s where you make a big difference.”
–BBC
