Wolves 2-0 Crystal Palace: Ruben Neves stars as hosts give Hodgson his first defeat after Palace return

Wolverhampton Wanderers moved nine points clear of the relegation zone with Ruben Neves starring in a 2-0 victory on Tuesday night in the Midlands.

Wolves and Palace had both endured difficult seasons in the Premier League so far, but ended the night in 13th and 12th spot respectively, and appear to have largely moved away from the threat of relegation for the current campaign.

Roy Hodgson’s recent return to replace Patrick Vieira at Selhurst Park had helped the Londoners edge close to safety as they were yet to taste defeat during their current manager’s second tenure, but they suffered a miserable start to the game at Molineux.

A Neves corner to the six-yard box was tough to defend, and Joachim Andersen struggled to clear it, instead putting the ball into his own net after just three minutes.

Palace were unable to find a way through as they battled for the rest of the first half, but as the game wore on, Wolves were happier to sit back and hope to soak up the pressure in the hope of claiming all three points.

With the game already looking won, a poor touch from Sam Johnstone allowed Pedro Neto to steal in and the goalkeeper then brought down the forward.

Neves stepped up again to make another contribution deep into injury time as he converted the penalty to make sure of victory, and the three points.

Wolves travel to Brighton at the weekend in their next league game, while Palace host West Ham in a London derby on Saturday.