Wolves 2 Crystal Palace 2: Hosts still rock bottom as late Guehi equaliser sees O’Neil’s side denied first win of season
GARY O’NEIL might look back on this hard-fought point as the moment he saved his job.
But for so long he seemed to teeter on the brink as Wolves fans’ patience snapped and they turned on their struggling young manager.
Trailing to a Trevoh Chalobah goal, the home fans voiced their disgust as they chanted: “You don’t know what you’re doing,” in protest at their side’s dismal performance.
And yet a triple substitution and two goals in five minutes from Jorgen Strand-Larsen and Joao Gomes soon saw them change their tune.
Suddenly, there was hope and O’Neil seemed to know what he was doing again.
Until another defensive disaster saw Marc Guehi snatch an equaliser to deny Wolves their first win of the season.
Incredibly, Palace thought they had snatched a stoppage-time win when Jean-Philippe Mateta scored from close range.
However, VAR Paul Tierney ruled that Daniel Munoz had fouled Jose Sa, and Wolves breathed again.
There were a few boos from unhappy home fans at the final whistle but there were just as many applauding too – it was that kind of night!
After a nervy first half this relegation battle burst into life on the hour when Chalobah profited from some disatrous Wolves defending.
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Will Hughes swung in a cross from Daichi Kamada‘s short free kick and Jorgen Strand Larsen failed to hear Jose Sa’s call.
The Norwegian headed the ball out from under the goalie’s waiting gloves and the ball dropped to Chalobah who drilled it in expertly from a tight angle.
At that point, Palace smelled blood, and Wolves fans were demanding it – from O’Neil!
Yet Wolves battled back with two goals in five minutes.
Chalobah went from hero to zero when he missed Santi Bueno’s crossfield ball and Matheus Cunha burst clear to set up Larsen who slid the ball under Dean Henderson.
And Wolves thought they were on track to win it when Cunha set up Goncalo Guedes to cut the ball back to Joao Gomes who swept the ball under Henderson.
But Wolves simply can’t buy a win this season and they blew their lead five minutes later.
Kamada’s corner was flicked on by Munoz and Marc Guehi stole in at the back post to tap home from close range.
Wolves were so desperate for a win you could practically feel the sense of expectation streaming down from the stands.
Gary O’Neil’s men had lost their last five home Premier League games.
In fact, Wolves players had only collected one win bonus from their last 19 top-flight games – a home win against Luton way back in April.
They needed to stop the rot rapidly. Especially as Southampton’s win against Everton left the home side rooted to the bottom of the table by kick-off time at Molineux.
Leicester’s late leveller at Ipswich at least gave Palace some peace of mind and guaranteed they stayed out of the relegation zone, regardless of the result here.
However, Oliver Glasner’s men were eager to build on a productive week which saw them beat Spurs and knock Aston Villa out of the Carabao Cup and will feel this was an opportunity missed.