[ad_1]
It’s been a while since the Wolves made a performance like this in the first half, and Nuno Espirito Santo knows it. The offensive statistic presented to him this week was that they hadn’t scored a goal in the first half since the season’s opening day, and perhaps with this evidence he took it seriously. The wolves flew to a fit Crystal Palace in half an hour with goals from spirited Daniel Podence and teenage debutant Rayan Ait-Nouri, and in doing so they looked somewhat like themselves.
Palace tried to carry out the counterattack game plan that has served them so well in recent weeks, but it took off before they could threaten. They are a team built in the image of their manager: experienced, cunning, pragmatic, unglamorous, not as mobile as they used to be. Nuno’s solution to Roy Hodgsons’ well-drilled block was to display the cunning of Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence, fluttering in pockets and coming out again, dragging the defenders a few feet off their post, just enough to loosen the brick.
They were complemented by flying pilots who seemed worthy substitutes for the injured Jonny Otto and left Matt Doherty. Nelson Semedo has quickly settled in since his move from Barcelona to Wolverhampton and was a constant threat on the right side, while 19-year-old Ait-Nouri Wolves and his reference agent have unearthed another gem, although this is French, not Portuguese.
Ait-Nouri’s goal was exquisitely scored and was a way of announcing himself on the Premier League stage. The wandering Podence found himself on the right side and crossed to the six-yard box, where Cheikhou Kouyate’s head rose above the crowd and touched her away from apparent danger. But there was Ait-Nouri, coming into the area as a finely tuned Nuno winger should, making a low half volley in the far corner. On the touchline, Nuno gave a wide, knowing smile.
Podence’s strike a few moments later was similar, though it was more about preparation than ending. Raúl Jiménez fed Neto who was climbing up the right, who looked up and saw his fellow Portuguese wringer on the opposite side. His whipped crusader missed a visibly disappointed Jiménez looking for a comeback, but he chose Podence perfectly, who finished the first half from eight yards across the goal just as Vicente Guaita shuffled closer.
Rayan Ait-Nouri celebrates after scoring Wolves’ first goal
(AP)
Palace was struggling to gain a foothold in the game, and in the rare moments they did, their luck ran out. For the third game in a row Michy Batshuayi had the ball in the net only to be called offside, often enough to call into question his reading of the line. The lively Patrick van Aanholt had been the creator of Batshuayi and when the Dutchman entered the area and received a penalty from Willy Boly, the VAR found that Van Aanholt had been offside in preparation, the decision was made just as Luke Milivojevic I was spotting the ball.
Palace returned to play in the second half, but was frustrated by a well-trained Wolves team. Wilfried Zaha had struggled to make an impact on the game and lost his cool with Ait-Nouri, catching up and earning a yellow card. And in the final minutes his day was completed when Milivojevic cut Joao Moutinho, a poor tackle who rightly received a red card once the VAR had encouraged Martin Atkinson to check his field monitor.
A night to forget at Palace, an unforgettable night for the young Ait-Nouri.
