Patrick Vieira hails Palace’s first-half display at Wolves as ‘one of the best’

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira described his side’s first-half performance in their 2-0 win at Wolves as one of their best of the season.

The Eagles extended their unbeaten run away from home in 2022 to five games and earned a third consecutive victory over Wolves with an emphatic display.

Goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta and Wilfried Zaha, from the penalty spot, fired Vieira’s side into a deserved two-goal lead after 34 minutes at Molineux, with Wolves unable to make a breakthrough against a resolute Palace backline.

Vieria, who completed the double over Bruno Lage this season, complimented his players for their first-half performance.

“I loved every single part of the game,” Vieira said.

“We played well in the first half. In the second, we were tired and defended well when we needed to. It was a really good team performance.

“The first half was one of the best [performances of the season]. Everything is not perfect because we didn’t take the chances we created. We created enough chances to score more.”

Vieira’s side continued their fine record of not losing when scoring first after a impressive first-half performance in which Zaha and Michael Olise caught the eye.

Despite the attacking quality in his side, the Eagles boss also expressed his satisfaction in the second half’s defensive work to secure a first clean sheet in five games.

“The first half was positive because we knew we couldn’t maintain that for the whole game because we knew Wolves would put more pressure on us,” he said.

“We remained calm and composed and we played with a lot of confidence.”

Wolves head coach Lage criticised his team for their performance in the opening period and sent a daunting message out to his players after suffering a third