Daniel Podence’s first goal since his January transfer and a fine second-half finish by Jonny kept Wolves on course for European qualification through the Premier League. Podence, who became the ninth Portuguese player at Molineux when he joined from Olympiakos, provided a simple finish to a dainty move in the 41st minute before Adama Traoré teed up Jonny to inflict a seventh successive defeat on Crystal Palace.
At 5ft 5in Podence was the smallest player on the pitch but exerted a grand influence, with zippy movement and nifty touches making him a regular pest to Palace. The visitors seemed in an irritable mood for most of the game, frustrated not only by their opponents but also by the loss of Mamadou Sakho to injury early on and their chronic inability to turn possession into penetration.
This victory took Wolves to their highest points tally since the formation of the Premier League, in a season that started for them last July and will not end until August. A top-four domestic finish is beyond them but a spot in fifth or sixth would guarantee participation in next season’s Europa League – if they need it; they could still reach the Champions League by winning this season’s Europa League, which resumes next month with Wolves hosting Olympiakos in the second leg of their last‑16 tie. The first ended 1-1.
This was Wolves’ 56th match in a campaign interrupted by the lockdown. They have occasionally looked flat since the restart and there were spells in this game when inspiration eluded them. But they won by producing the contest’s key moments of ingenuity.
The first came four minutes to the end of a first half in which Palace’s woes were summed up by Sakho’s muscle injury and Jeffrey Schlupp firing wide after clever work by Wilfried Zaha. Wolves barely threatened, with Tyrick Mitchell, a 20-year-old left-back making his first league start for Palace, coping pretty well with Traoré.
The cliche about needing either magic or a mistake to make the game interesting came to mind, and there was no doubt about which looked more likely. But suddenly Wolves broke through with a wonderfully constructed goal featuring an artful one-two between Matt Doherty and João Moutinho. The Irishman clipped the ball back from the byline to leave Podence with a simple header into the net.
“He did well,” said Nuno Espírito Santo of Podence. “But there’s a lot of space to improve so let’s try to work to take more advantage of his incredible talent.”
Podence flashed that talent again on the hour, conspiring with Traoré before Vicente Guaita saved the Spaniard’s shot. Eight minutes later Traoré showed his class by bursting between Mitchell and James McArthur on the right – nutmegging the debutant in the process – and then passing to Raúl Jiménez, whose scuffed shot ran to Jonny. The wingback spun and lashed the ball into the net from 10 yards.
Soon after that Guaita had to bolt out of his area to deny Podence after a flick-on by Jiménez. But Palace never looked like depriving Wolves of a win that took them to a record Premier League points haul. “That pleases me a lot,” Nuno said.
“The credit is to the players. It has been a long season – one calendar year for us – and this points total is a fair reward for us. Progress season-on-season is the idea. We are improving, building and looking for the next challenge. We embrace that.”