Two goals from Eberechi Eze and Wilfried Zaha in the second half ensured that Partick Vieira’s men came from behind to beat Wolvehampton 2-1 and collect all three points from their meeting at the Selhurst Park on Tuesday.
The first half was openly contested as both sides had their fair share of chances. Cheick Doucoure rattled the woodwork with a bouncing pile-driver for Palace in the fifth minute, while new Wolves signing Diego Costa missed a chance from close range, and his attempt was deflected wide for a corner.
While Adama Traore is more famous for his pace and tricky dribbling and cross, the Spaniard’s aerial prowess came to the fore when he opened the scoring in the 31st minute with a superb downward header from Hugo Bueno’s cross to get the visitors’ noses ahead.
Wolves could have extended their lead to two in first-half stoppage time, but Ruben Neves’s free-kick struck the right-hand post and defected out instead of going in.
The hosts roared back to life after the half-time break and restored parity quite early on. Eze ghosted past the defence and rose high at the far post before his downward header slammed into the back of the net.
The momentum was with the hosts from that point on as Odsonne Edouard’s bicycle kick flew just wide of the top-right corner midway through the second half. The Frenchman then turned provider in the 70th minute of the contest. He picked out Zaha with a superb cross into the box, and the winger kept his nerves to slot the ball home calmly.
The winger kept his nerves to score what proved to be the game-winning goal. Wolves came close to levelling matters once again but Neves’ shot was saved by Vicente Guaita.
“We had to dig deep. We were playing well in the first half but the goal was a massive blow.
“We had to keep going. This is what it takes in the Prem. We knew we had it within us and we got what we deserved,”
Zaha, who scored in his third consecutive game, said after the match.
