A quick start was desperately needed from Wolves, but they were somewhat fortunate not to gift Palace one, with just 11 minutes on the clock when Marshall Munetsi fouled Ismaila Sarr on the edge of the box, leading to a close call with VAR.
Jean-Philippe Mateta then fired fractionally wide of the right-hand post, as the Molineux faithful’s craving for a change in fortune ratcheted ever higher.
Former Eagle Sam Johnstone negotiated his first real test of the afternoon shortly after, when he produced a brilliant diving save to keep out Daichi Kamada’s first-time effort.
As for Wolves, their best chance of the first half fell to Joao Gomes, who saw a dangerous low shot thwarted well by Dean Henderson, before Ladislav Krejci fired narrowly over on the rebound.
After holding on to keep Palace goalless up to half-time, Wolves would pay dearly for that failure to convert, with two quickfire goals from the Eagles after the hour mark. Adam Wharton had a shot blocked, but Daniel Munoz was there on the follow-up to fire in high, though a prolonged VAR check would be needed to clear the Colombian’s first goal since early October.
Palace capitalised on Wolves’ freshly downcast nature with a second strike on 69’. Wharton played a role once again, finding Yeremy Pino on the edge of the box, and he organised himself before firing into the roof of the net.
With Wolves now having nothing to lose, they finally rediscovered some attacking verve, with Hwang Hee-Chan seeing a shot cleared off the line.
As they have so often done under Oliver Glasner, Palace used their energy efficiently to hold out to notch up their third win in five away league games.
With an all-too-familiar tale unfolding at Molineux despite the promise of a new era, Wolves fans know that a minor miracle will now be needed for survival, especially as no side on less than five points after 12 games of a 38-game PL campaign has ever gone on to stay up.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
