A first Premier League goal for Evann Guessand was enough to assuage at least some of the ill-feeling at Crystal Palace, whose manager, Oliver Glasner, seems to have managed to pull the team out of an alarming nosedive in form, though he’ll struggle to repeat the trick with his plummeting popularity rating.
The Austrian, not so long ago a hero to this fanbase for last season’s FA Cup triumph, had already been burning bridges long before he poured kerosene on the flames this week by telling Palace fans to “stay humble”.
Judging by the chants of “Humble til I die” which issued from the home supporters, it will take a long time for the smoke to clear.
He might be a terrible diplomat, but Glasner is still a good manager, and he made the change that Palace needed to salvage a desperately listless performance, which looked to be leading to a goalless draw even after Ladislav Krejci’s red card gave them a man advantage.
Guessand was introduced from the bench, replacing the centre back Chadi Riad, and delivered the winner from Tyrick Mitchell’s cross in the final seconds of normal time. Remarkably, it was Palace’s first league win at home since November 1.
They could have taken the lead early on following a dreadful error by Yerson Mosquera, who didn’t get nearly enough on the ball as he shovelled it back towards his goalkeeper and gave Yeremy Pino a clear run at goal. With José Sá out of his net, the winger tried to chip him first time, but overcooked it.
Some Palace supporters showed their discontent with the club’s direction during the game
DANIEL WEIR/ALAMY
Wolves had some decent moments in the opening 30 minutes. A tremendous backheel by André allowed Adam Armstrong to chip the ball through for Tolu Arokodare, but the chance was snuffed out by some strong defending by Chris Richards. Arokodare then tested Dean Henderson with a close-range free kick, which the goalkeeper palmed away, plunging to his left.
Palace responded with the best move of the first half, a corner routine straight from the training ground.
Guessand celebrates his late goal, which gave Crystal Palace their first league win at home since November 1
TOM SANDBERG/PPAUK/SHUTTERSTOCK
Will Hughes delivered the ball low to the near post, Adam Wharton got in front of André to divert it to the edge of the box, where Pino was waiting, and rattled a shot against the foot of the post.
But Wharton’s first half soon took a turn for the worse. Wolves won possession in the Palace third and the ball was quickly fed to Mateus Mané, leading Wharton to dive in in a desperate attempt to tackle him from behind. A penalty was the inevitable outcome, but Arokodare’s spot kick was poor, and Henderson saved comfortably. He beat his chest towards the Palace fans, who responded with chants of “England’s No1”.
The game turned on Krejci’s red card, for two bookable offences in breathtakingly quick succession either side of the hour mark. First came a harsh yellow for a minor tangle with Ismaila Sarr, then a moment of madness, kicking the ball away, merited the second.
But Palace struggled to make the extra man count, to the frustration of their supporters. Then came Guessand’s moment. It was a simple move, Wharton spreading the ball out wide to Mitchell, who cut it back sharply to the corner of the six-yard box, where Guessand, sliding in, stabbed the ball past José Sá, depriving the long-doomed visitors of the point which would have seen equal Derby County’s worst-ever total of 11.
Glasner applauded the fans at full time, and most of the supporters responded in kind. The bad vibes may linger for a while longer, but the threat of relegation, at least, seems to have drifted away.