Wolves' fans verdict vs Crystal Palace: We showed grit on a rainy away day

Russ Evers

What's your verdict on the match?

Football next season started to become a prospect rather than a hopeful dream. Palace were beaten by a hungry pressing side who could have been 3 up before the break but such is the change in our recent fortunes that our full back on yet another right wing raid pulled the trigger for the goal that earned the 3 points and pushed us to within 4 points of the top (admittedly before City have played). A great team effort - good job we are rubbish in the winter !!! Man of the match ? Patricio who did everything well with a minimum of fuss but all played their part

Adam Virgo

What's your verdict on the match?

Yesterday’s game certainly wasn’t the prettiest and we had to seriously dig in, grit our teeth and work hard for the three points.

We did a very good job on Zaha who was always going to be their main threat and now we can go into the international break in 7th place, who would have thought that when we saw our first eight fixtures.

Selhurst Park isn’t an easy place to go and it was always going to be a tough game, although their apparent “famous atmosphere” was nowhere to be seen, and I imagine even a party at Roy Hodgson’s house would have generated a louder noise.

We didn’t really get to grips with the first half, and maybe our Portuguese players were so used to the Sun again they forgot what it was like to play football in the pouring rain. Apart from the Jimenez chance we didn’t create too much, he probably should have scored but the Judas in goal made a good save. Luckily for Palace, it wasn’t a Friday night in League One so he didn’t refuse to play.

Second half we looked a lot more astute and controlled in our play. Created more chances and got into their box far more than we did in the first 45. Fantastically taken goal by Doherty and another assist for Jimenez who is proving to be such a key asset to our team.

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

Matt Doherty once again proving his doubters wrong, especially Martin O’Neill who I hope has now realised Doherty deserves a chance to start for Republic of Ireland. Took his goal very well, didn’t have much right to score with the angle he was on but when we’ve got wing backs getting into those positions, we’ll always get chances to score.

Conor Coady was absolutely fantastic yesterday. He read the game superbly well, intercepting key passes, staying calm in tight situations and looked composed with and without the ball all game. If he keeps those types of performances up then Southgate will surely give him a chance sooner rather than later.

For all the wonderful talent Neves and Moutinho have, it was their defensive sides of the game which shone the most and they both looked unafraid to get stuck in. Playing in those conditions isn’t easy at all, especially on a very wet surface but they both did a very good job.

More unselfish play from Raul Jimenez reaped the rewards and in general as a forward, he is such a good player. His all round play helps us massively, he’s got a lot of strengths and the only negative is that he should be on more than two goals which he probably knows himself.

Willy Boly was an absolute animal yesterday. Winning tackles and bullying Palace’s forwards constantly. He’s a colossus at the back and if we can keep our defence fit and consistent throughout the season then we’ll be getting more and more clean sheets.

Rui Patricio has been one of, if not the best goalkeeper in the Premier League so far this season. That double save yesterday was quality, his reflexes are outstanding and the only weakness was his flap at a cross in the first half. Apart from that he was as good as he’s been all season.

Jota had another poor game but I still wouldn’t change the team yet due to our unbeaten run and it’s good to keep a winning team. However it won’t be too long before Cavaleiro or Traore get a start if Jota keeps up his poor form, I don’t know what’s happened to him but he looks half the player he was last season.

Clive Smith

What's your verdict on the match?

Even a wet and rainy day at the Palace could not dampen the Nuno dream. We were not full of pretty expansive football but we certainly ground out a good result with resolute defence and swift counter attacks.

The defending started up the field with our front three never giving Palace time on the ball. We closed down swiftly while picking our moments to hunt in a pack (obviously) to gain possession. Palace did the same to us. With the greater onus on them to attack, it always looked like a breakaway, one way or another would provide a goal.

Despite our lack of possession in the first half we still created the best scoring opportunities. Most attacks went down our left and the link up between Jota and Jimenez set up three decent chance. Jimenez twice was well placed while Jota shot wildly high and wide with his attempt.

Our stand out players were deeper in our half with Doherty and Otto being aware of their pacy wingers while Boly and Coady were looking to control the through balls. We kept a high defensive line, with the back five in a well disciplined formation. Just ahead of them Neves and Moutinho were snapping at the heels of Palace players and doing a good job of disrupting their flow. All this meant Patricio had few concerns and only one low cross looked dangerous but had no attacker close by.

Little changed for the second half with possession although our productive moves now seemed to be down the right involving Doherty and Costa. After ten minutes, some good passing yet again saw Jimenez providing an assist. A one two with Doherty meant the wing back was well placed to drill a low shot past Hennessey at his near post. We have seen the Doc get in similar positions several times since Nuno and the 3-4-3 formation arrived. He is well placed to score quite a few goals even at this level.

From then on it was just a matter of preserving our precious clean sheet. A miss timed tackle on the slippery surface or a far post header, were the main concerns. Fear not though we have a terrific work ethic when it comes to protecting our goal. The keeper is expected to do his job while everyone else helps by tackling, chasing down and clearing our box as thoughtfully as possible. A few goal mouth scrambles caused some concern but it was job done. Clean sheet and three more points.

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

Patricio made everything look routine. He is always in the right position while ready to make a reaction saved if required. He made two saves in five seconds which were top class.

Otto was constantly alert and pro-active. Racing towards the opposition to challenge and tackle, not giving them a moments rest.

Doherty had a relatively subdued opening half before becoming more involved later. A tidy finish too which probably gets him MOTM ahead of the others.

The central defensive three were all on their game.

Boly put in his usual shift. Heading and tackling well. Nothing fussy from Bennett, just his usual eight out of ten. Coady was also impressive and only got caught out twice and that was far away from the goal. One forward run saw him cross halfway! but he put his body on the line with his determined defending.

It was another tackling Neves performance, rather than passing, but effective none the less. Moutinho too worked like a trojan ahead of the back five. (Note to self, check what a Trojan does work like)

Costa showed some neat footwork a few times going forward and worked hard without the ball when we dropped into a 5-4-1 formation.

Jimenez led the line well as always. Two decent scoring chances were missed but he ran himself into the ground by the time he came off. More than once he made good runs but failed to receive the pass at the right time. He is good at finding space, coming deep, getting involved and then running free.

Having seen Cavaleiro, Otto and Doherty score in the last two games there must be some envy from Jota. He tries so hard all the time, he deserved the patience from Nuno, shown today by being the third substitution when he could easily have been the first. Hopefully a big hug from us all will help him keep his chin up.

From the bench:

Saiss perhaps surprisingly came on up front but was needed more goalside than in the final third. Looked a bit short of pace and never got to the tempo of the game.

A nice cameo from Cavaleiro for fifteen minutes. Fresh legs and fresh energy were needed and he very nearly scored again. Needs to keep a lid on his short fuse though.

Traore made one decent break but he only had five minutes playing time.

Chris Hughes

What's your verdict on the match?

Another game, another solid defensive display. On a miserable day, in a miserable stadium, we were rewarded with another victory and a 6th straight game without defeat in the top flight for the first time in nearly 40 years!

Having travelled down by train as a trio we found the spare seat at our table taken by a Villa fan on both journeys but even that couldn’t spoil the day after another superb display from the BBC. For the media frenzy that seems to follow Wilfred Zaha’s performances, he was nullified almost completely here despite Palace having the majority of the possession. One shot in injury time that hit his own player and a fortunate bounce that got him away from Boly in the first half aside, he offered very little to trouble us. With their main threat taken away Palace resorted mainly to shots from distance with Patricio called into serious action only once all day when making a fine double save from Meyer and Schlupp in the second half.

Despite conceding the lion’s share of possession we created the best chance of the first half with a swift counter-attack that saw Jota slip in Raúl, only for the Mexican to be denied by the villain of the day, our former keeper Hennessey, with a fine save. It was obvious that many of the travelling fans haven’t forgiven the Welshman for refusing to play at Gillingham in League One, and orchestrating his departure from the club, as his every touch was greeted with a chorus of boos.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first with Palace seeing a lot of the ball as we soaked up the pressure excellently and looked to break at pace. This was a departure from our usual possession-heavy tactic, mainly forced by the cramped Selhurst Park pitch that restricted space for Neves and Moutinho to pull the strings in their usual modus operandi and our being unable to stretch the game with width once Palace had recovered their defensive shape. Instead we got the ball to Jota or Costa quickly and looked to get at the Palace backline quickly. It was from one quick break following Boly winning the ball from Zaha that we got our goal. An excellent give-and-go from the marauding Doherty saw him latch onto another beautifully-weighted pass from Raúl and bury a first-time strike beyond Hennessey. The limbs in the away end that greeted the goal were even better than the ones in the pre-game dance party in the open-air refreshment area outside the stand!

We continued to break on Palace as they pressed for a leveller and were the closest to a second goal in the game when Cavaleiro latched on to a deflected Moutinho pass and smashed a venomous shot against the crossbar. Cavaleiro showed his stomach for the fight when he refused to back down from Van Aarnholt in injury time too.

Who played well - and who didn't impress?

The back three were imperious again. Coady marshalled the line brilliantly with Bennett and Boly making challenges and clearances either side of him. It’s getting to the point now where you arrive at a game expecting a clean sheet due to the form of those three backed up by the knowledge that Patricio is capable of dealing with almost everything they do allow through.

Raúl lead the line well again but will be disappointed not to have taken his first half chance. Another assist though makes it three games in a row since his Burnley winner. Even when not getting his name on the scoresheet the Mexican is directly contributing to us picking up points.