Neves spot-on against Crystal Palace to lift Wolves clear of chasing pack

Rúben Neves’s stoppage-time penalty confirmed Wolves’s third successive home victory and, with it, in all likelihood, their Premier League status.

With his long locks unfurled and gold shirt ripped off, the Wolves captain did not look like a man desperate to leave the club as he, his teammates and the South Bank celebrated passionately his sixth goal of what is being cast as his final season here.

The penalty was awarded for a bad foul by Sam Johnstone, attempting to recover his first touch as Pedro Neto nipped in, and allowed Wolves to move nine points clear of the relegation zone with five games left to play.

They are now level on points with Crystal Palace who, losing for the first time in Roy Hodgson’s fifth game back at the club, dominated for much of the contest after Joachim Andersen’s own goal from Neves’s corner in the third minute.

It was the best start shot-shy Wolves could have hoped for, even if it did take a Palace player to score for them. They had earned the corner when Diego Costa chested down a lovely cross from the recalled Hugo Bueno, turned inside and saw his left-footed shot parried behind by Johnstone.

Andersen appeared to try to absolve himself of responsibility, raising his hands in the air as if attempting to let the driven corner go past him. Unfortunately for the Denmark defender, the ball pinged off his toes and over the line via the underside of the crossbar.

Palace have been one of the form teams in the Premier League since Roy Hodgson’s return, securing 10 points in his first four games to alleviate most if not all of the fears of relegation.

The good news for the visitors was that they had earned a divisional high of six wins from losing positions this season, while Wolves had dropped 18