Crystal Palace continued their impressive form as goals from Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze gave the Eagles a 3-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
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Olise broke the deadlock with a curling strike after 26 minutes before Mateta grabbed a second only three minutes later to set Palace on route to victory.
Matheus Cunha pulled a goal back for the hosts, but Eze restored their two-goal cushion with 17 minutes remaining, and they hung on despite Naouirou Ahamada receiving a second yellow card late on.
Wolves drop to 13th with defeat as Palace leapfrog them on goal difference into 12th in the Premier League, having enjoyed a resurgence under new manager Oliver Glasner.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 |
Brighton
BHA
|
38 | -7 | 48 |
| 12 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
38 | -13 | 48 |
| 13 |
Fulham
FUL
|
38 | -6 | 47 |
| 14 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -15 | 46 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -11 | 40 |
How the match unfolded
With both sides tucked safely in midtable, it was something of a slow burner at Molineux.
Max Kilman headed over for Wolves early on, before Mateta intercepted a pass and slid in Eze for a shot, which he could not direct on target.
Olise spurned another good opportunity when he shot wide at the back post from Mateta's cross, but he then opened the scoring with a delightful left-footed curling strike, which was perfectly placed beyond the stretching arm of late replacement goalkeeper Dan Bentley.
The in-form Mateta swiftly doubled Palace's advantage with a close-range finish after Nathaniel Clyne had struck a post following excellent work from Olise.
Wolves nearly responded before half-time when Matt Doherty rattled the crossbar with a header from Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross, then Cunha forced Dean Henderson into a smart save after the interval.
Cunha managed to halve the deficit with 66 minutes played, however, firing into the roof of the net with a VAR check confirming the goal after Hwang Hee-chan had been flagged offside.
Clyne then made an important interception to deny Hwang an almost certain goal before Olise split the Wolves defence to find Eze, who rounded the goalkeeper and tapped in Palace's third.
They held on despite Ahamanda being sent off late on, receiving his second booking for a rash lunge on Cunha.
Referee Thomas Bramall originally pointed to the penalty spot but after a VAR review, the decision was overturned and a free-kick awarded outside the area.
Wolves lack solid foundations
After a positive first half of the season which saw them on the brink of a potential European place, Wolves’ final home match of the season ended in defeat and Gary O’Neil’s side are destined to finish in the bottom half of the table.
Their recent slide has seen them win only once in their last nine matches.
Wolves' defence has struggled of late. Only Sheffield United, Luton and West Ham have conceded more goals in their last 15 Premier League matches. But losing Jose Sa in the build-up to illness did not help here.
Bentley though could do little to stop any of the Palace goals as the game quickly got away from Wolves in the first half.
Eagles continue to fly
Glasner will be delighted that his side could follow up Monday's 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United with only a second away victory in 13 matches.
Palace extend their unbeaten run to six matches, with the front three of Olise, Mateta and Eze again excellent and at the forefront of this win.
A victory on the final day at home to Aston Villa could reward the Eagles with a top-half finish after a campaign which threatened to see them in a relegation scrap.
The only downside to this win was a first-half injury to Will Hughes, who had just signed a new deal. Glasner will be hoping it is nothing serious.
Club reports
Final Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Wolves have lost six of their last seven Premier League games against Crystal Palace (W1), indeed since their promotion ahead of 2018-19, only against Liverpool (10) and Man City (8) have they lost more matches in the competition than against the Eagles (7).
Crystal Palace have won five of their last six Premier League games (D1), indeed since Oliver Glasner’s first game in charge in February, only Man City (9 wins, 29 points) and Arsenal (9 wins, 28 points) have won more games and points in the competition than the Eagles (6 wins, 21 points).
Crystal Palace scored more than twice in a Premier League away game for the first time in 23 such games in the competition, since a 5-1 victory against Leeds United in April 2023.
Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta has scored 10 goals in 12 Premier League appearances under Oliver Glasner, just one fewer than he netted in the combined 79 games he played under Roy Hodgson (5) and Patrick Vieira (6) in the competition.
