BEVERLY HILLS, October 31, (THEWILL) – In an English Premier League fixture that pit eighth versus ninth with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace sitting on 10 points after six games, Wolves were two goals up before the half hour mark in the first half and never looked like relinquishing that lead. And that was how it ended at the Molineux Stadium.
For this tie, Nuno Espirito Santo made only one change from the team he played against Newcastle last time out, dropping the Moroccan defender Romain Saiss to the Wolves bench in favour of debutant French left back Rayan Ait-Nouri, who is on a season-long loan from Angers.
Roy Hodgson, on his own part, also only opted for one change as Dutch left back Patrick Van Aanholt returned in place of Tyrick Mitchell, who missed out from the squad altogether with injury. Ghanaian centre forward Ayew also returned to the bench after overcoming the coronavirus.
The visitors believed they had grabbed the first of the game, through Michy Batsuahyi, however, his effort was disallowed for offside.
They then conceded a pair of early first-half goals after Ait-Nouri scored in the 18th minute of his debut with a left-footed strike across goal from the corner of the area. Portuguese winger Daniel Podence had initially found room on the right before Palace defender Cheikhou Kouyate’s headed clearance fell to the feet of Ait-Nouri on the left.
In the 27th minute, Podence added a goal to his assist when he volleyed home with his left from inside the area to make it two. Wolves forward Raul Jimenez played in Pedro Neto, who had tons of time to look up and find Podence at the back post to volley home through the legs of Vincente Guaita, Spanish goalie for Palace.
In a fairly quieter second half by comparison, neither side created much and the only real highlight was Serbian Palace midfielder Luka Milivojevic’s late red card after referee Martin Atkinson had consulted VAR.
After this disappointing performance, Hodgson’s men next face the challenge of hosting Leeds, while Wolves, who have moved up to third, face an away trip to Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
