Olise inspires in-form Palace to victory at Wolves
Crystal Palace continued its impressive form as goals from Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze gave the Eagles a 3-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
Olise broke the deadlock with a curling strike after 26 minutes before Mateta grabbed a second just three minutes later to set Palace on the route to victory.
Matheus Cunha pulled a goal back for the hosts, but Eze restored the two-goal cushion with 17 minutes remaining, and Palace hung on despite Naouirou Ahamada receiving a second yellow card late on.
Wolves drop to 13th with defeat as Palace leapfrog them on goal difference into 12th position in the Premier League table, having enjoyed a resurgence under new boss Oliver Glasner.
With both sides tucked safely in mid-table, it was perhaps unsurprisingly something of a slow burner at Molineux.
Max Kilman headed over for Wolves early on, before Mateta intercepted a pass and slid in Eze for a shot on goal, which he could not direct on target.
Olise spurned another good opportunity when he shot wide at the back post from Mateta's cross, but he then opened the scoring with a delightful left-footed curling strike, which was perfectly placed beyond the stretching arm of Dan Bentley.
The in-form Mateta then swiftly doubled Palace's advantage with a close-range finish after Nathaniel Clyne had struck the post after excellent work from Olise.
Wolves nearly responded before half-time when Matt Doherty rattled the crossbar with a header from Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross, then Cunha forced Dean Henderson into a smart save after the interval.
Cunha managed to halve the deficit with 66 minutes played, however, firing into the roof of the net with a VAR check awarding the goal after Hwang Hee-chan was flagged offside.
Clyne then made an important interception to deny Hwang an almost certain goal before Olise split the Wolves defence to find Eze, who rounded the goalkeeper and tapped in Palace's third.
The visitors held on despite Ahamanda being sent off late on, receiving his second booking for a rash lunge on Cunha. Referee Thomas Bramall originally pointed to the penalty spot but after a VAR review, the decision was overturned and a free-kick awarded outside the area.
Glasner will be delighted that his side could follow up the 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United with just a second away victory in 13 matches.
Palace extended its unbeaten run to six games, with the front three of Olise, Mateta and Eze once again excellent and at the forefront of this win.
A victory on the final day at home to Aston Villa could reward the Eagles with a top-half finish after a campaign which threatened to see them in a relegation scrap