WOLVERHAMPTON, England (Reuters) -An early own goal and a late penalty gave Wolverhampton Wanderers a vital three points in their bid to keep clear of the Premier League relegation zone as they ended Crystal Palace’s unbeaten run under stand-in manager Roy Hodgson with a 2-0 home win on Tuesday.
Wolves had a dream start after a third-minute own goal from Joachim Andersen and made sure of the win after another horrific mistake, this time by Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone who gave away a stoppage-time penalty, converted by captain Ruben Neves.
Victory put Wolves nine points clear of the bottom three places, joining Palace on 37 points and ended Hodgson’s run of three wins and a draw since returning to Palace in the wake of Patrick Vieira’s sacking last month.
Andersen, who was facing his own goal, got himself into a tangle as a corner from Neves struck him on the knee, powering into the net off the underside of the bar to the delight of the Molineux support.
But it was largely a nervy night for the fans as Palace threatened to fight their way back into the game and dominated many of the exchanges.
Their quick passing set up a chance for a 16th-minute equaliser as Eberechi Eze fed Albert Sambi Lokonga but the Belgium international slipped at the vital moment and was unable to make use of the pass.
But Lokonga was firmly on his feet when he struck a point-blank shot on target five minutes before halftime, only to see the effort saved by diving Wolves keeper Jose Sa.
Sa made another key stop 17 minutes from fulltime from Eze’s curling shot from outside the penalty area, as Palace pressed for a goal and put their hosts under considerable pressure.
Eze, who posed a real threat throughout, had an 80th-minute effort blocked by Neves as Wolves pulled down the shutters and looked to hold on to their lead in a nervy final spell.
They were able to get another goal in stoppage time when Johnstone’s heavy touch, while attempting to play out from the back, saw Pedro Neto attempt to steal away the ball before being fouled by the Palace keeper.
Neves hit the resultant spot kick into the corner of the net to wrap up the win.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon and Toby Davis)
