Crystal Palace vs Wolverhampton Wanderers. Premier League.
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Report and highlights as Crystal Palace are denied by Wolves in the Premier League
Sunday 22 September 2019 17:53, UK
Diogo Jota scored in the fifth minute of injury-time to give 10-man Wolves a dramatic 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace.
After failing to muster a decent effort on goal before the break, Palace took the lead in the first minute of the second half when Joel Ward's strike from the edge of the box was deflected past Rui Patricio off Leander Dendoncker for an own goal.
Wolves' hopes took a further turn for the worse when defender Romain Saiss was shown a second yellow card following a foul on Wilfried Zaha, reducing the visitors to 10 men.
Palace had chances to score the clinching second goal but, with time almost up, Adama Traore's cross into the box caused panic and Jota fired home from close range to give Wolves an unlikely equaliser.
Nuno Espirito Santo's men are still without a win but will see this as a point gained after finding themselves in such a dire situation.
This had been a difficult week for the club after suffering Europa League defeat to Braga on Thursday and entering the final stages of the match both a goal and a man down could have seen heads drop but they wouldn't lie down.
In truth, Palace should have finished them off. Substitute Christian Benteke had a chance to make it 2-0 with 12 minutes left when cutting in from the left but his lack of confidence in front of goal was all too apparent as he struck his shot straight at the goalkeeper.
And, in injury time, with Wolves leaving gaps, Jeffrey Schlupp was played through on goal but couldn't convert his one-one-one as Patricio stood firm again to block his shot.
Palace just had to see the game out after that but they couldn't do it. Wolves drove upfield one more time and found Traore out on the right. His cross should have been cleared by Ward but the defender, whose deflected shot had put Palace in front, slipped to the floor and Jota couldn't miss.
Palace had wasted a golden chance to move to sixth in the table and boss Roy Hodgson could barely hide his frustration as he stomped off.
Wolves had the better of the first half with Jota playing a neat one-two with Jimenez before thumping a shot at the goalkeeper seven minutes before the break.
And Palace stopper Vicente Guaita did even better just before the half-hour mark when tipping Matt Doherty's thumping header over the crossbar after being picked out by Traore.
Palace came out fast after the break and, as well as their goal just 48 seconds in, Wolves' wobbles continued as Saiss was shown a yellow card.
The defender's red card in the 73rd minute for taking down Zaha looked to have cost his side the chance of an equaliser but Jota had other ideas.
The Wolves speedster can drive his manager crazy at times. There's so much talent there but how best to harness it?
Today, Traore was tried in a front three and there were the usual flashes of promise but, crucially, some end product too.
The winger didn't just beat men, he got in some effective crosses too. And when Wolves needed a get-out-of-jail card, it was Traore who found space on the right and pinged in a dangerous ball to the far post from which the equaliser came.
Roy Hodgson: "It's very hard, I'm bitterly disappointed. Quite frankly in the second half, we'd kept them out of our box pretty well.
"Overall I can't be dissatisfied with the actual performance but in football it's all about results and points. Games when you concede in injury time when after really having had full control of the game during the whole of the second half, it becomes a defeat.
"So today I must say that I feel like we've been defeated here."
Nuno Espirito Santo: "This happens in football. First half was really good. We controlled the game, we dominated the game, we had possession, we had chances. We must punish.
"Of course I was not happy about the beginning of the second half.
"We had a lot of heart and a lot of character. We know what the situation is; Thursday-Sunday, Thursday-Suday, no stop and we have to manage the game."
What's next?
Crystal Palace host Norwich in the Premier League on Saturday, September 28.
Wolves have a midweek fixture at home to Reading in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night and return to Premier League action on Saturday when Watford are the visitors to Molineux.
