Wolves jump to 6th, Eagles in free-fall
WOLVERHAMPTON: Wolverhampton reclaimed sixth place in the Premier League as they beat a woefully out-ofform Crystal Palace 2-0 at Molineux on Monday thanks to goals by Daniel Podence and Jonny.
Podence headed home for his first Premier League goal for Wolves shortly before half-time and Jonny’s fine finish wrapped up the points with 20 minutes remaining.
A injury-weakened Palace missing five regulars had actually started the game well but suffered another blow when Mamadou Sakho went off in the first half with a hamstring injury.
Palace offered precious little in the second half as they slumped to a seventh successive defeat.
Wolves moved above Tottenham Hotspur into sixth spot — a guaranteed Europa League qualification place — with 59 points ahead of their final league game away to Chelsea on Sunday. Palace are 14th.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo said he was not entirely happy with the performance but delighted with the win which keeps his side on course to better last season’s seventh place.
“Today, we made two more points than last season so we are improving, and I’m happy with that,” he said.
“The only good moment in the first half was the goal. We were faster in the second half and it was more of what we are.”
It proved another tough night for Palace manager Roy Hodgson who will be desperate to end the losing sequence when his side host Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
“I thought it was a sterling effort from the players to keep going but it is a bit of a Groundhog Day situation for us,” he said.
“An awful lot of things have not gone our way during this period of bad results but we have to face up to it and then in the summer find the players to reinforce us.”