How many more opportunities will Gary O'Neil receive to secure that long-awaited first league victory of the season? Wolves, who were rightly behind due to Trevoh Chalobah's opener, managed to squander a lead in the second half after Jorgen Strand Larsen and João Gomes scored within five minutes, turning the tide against Crystal Palace. Perhaps Wolves believed the hard work was already done. For extended periods, Wolves played like a team burdened by misfortune, and given they dismissed their first set-piece coach last month, it wasn't a positive sign for O'Neil that both Palace goals originated from dead balls. Marc Guéhi outmaneuvered his marker, the substitute Goncalo Guedes, at a corner to secure a point. Ultimately, O'Neil was unusually thankful for VAR, which supported referee Anthony Taylor's decision to disallow Jean-Philippe Mateta's 96th-minute strike for a foul on José Sá. Crucially, however, O'Neil might have lost the backing of the home crowd.
Wolves started at the bottom of the standings after Southampton's first win of the season, and the historical statistics were also foreboding. Every Premier League team that has earned fewer than three points from their first 10 matches has subsequently been relegated. By this stage of the season, even the infamous Derby team, relegated with just 11 points, had six to their name. O'Neil has remained optimistic, but after navigating a challenging fixture list that included seven of the current top nine, this game seemed the obvious place for a morale boost. This was especially true given Palace, who had two goalkeepers on a youthful substitutes bench, were without Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton due to injuries sustained in their impressive midweek Carabao Cup victory at Aston Villa.
An early Palace chance, which ended with Wolves center-back Craig Dawson making a desperate block, did little to ease the tension among the home supporters. Wolves needed a breather, but Will Hughes capitalized on a loose pass by Pablo Sarabia and Ismaïla Sarr, set up by Daichi Kamada, surged forward, leaving Palace with a 3 v 3 situation. Hughes arrived in the box for the cutback and sent a first-time effort towards goal. Sá dived, and Dawson threw his body in the way. If that created nervousness in the Wolves defense, it paled in comparison to what followed shortly after the half-hour mark. Guéhi headed the ball across goal from a short-corner routine, and Chalobah, unmarked three yards out, attempted to hook a shot goalwards. Chalobah tried a right-foot effort, but the ball hit his standing left leg. Jean-Phillipe Mateta then blasted the rebound goalwards, but it ricocheted off Chalobah. Mateta could only smile in disbelief.
Mateta caused Wolves issues, but the hosts eventually settled into a low-stakes game. Matheus Cunha sent a first-time shot wide and then became the provider, laying the ball off for Sarabia with a clever bouncing pass. Sarabia attempted to deceive Dean Henderson, but the Palace goalkeeper wasn't fooled and instead pawed the ball to safety with his left glove. Sarabia looked to the skies, while the visiting Palace supporters sang Henderson's name. Henderson was again in the way when Sarabia was through one on one three minutes after the break, again set up by Cunha. Sarabia opted for power and rattled a shot goalwards, which struck Henderson square in the face.
Wolves had been lackluster, while Palace were adventurous, and the visitors were rewarded on the hour mark. Kamada played a free-kick short to Hughes, whose left-foot cross flew into the box. Strand Larsen headed it on, but Sá had also advanced to challenge for the ball, leaving Chalobah with a chance at the back post, the goal wide open. Chalobah chested the ball and smashed it in from a tight angle, a fine finish. Wolves fell apart, with Sarr blasting over two minutes later. O'Neil made a triple substitution but struggled to stop the bleeding. Sarr then curled another effort wide.
Cunha had salvaged a point for Wolves at Brighton in their previous match and did so again here. The Brazilian chested a diagonal pass by Santiago Bueno, shifted the ball out of his feet with his next touch, and then freed Strand Larsen to his right to complete the task, the Norwegian sliding his finish through Henderson's legs. Suddenly, Wolves gained momentum. They then turned the game on its head, with Gomes side-footing low into the corner at the end of a slick team move. The substitute Mario Lemina pirouetted clear of Kamada, Cunha drove forward, and Guedes, another substitute, squared for Gomes. Unfortunately for O'Neil, it wasn't the final act.
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