Five takeaways from Crystal Palace’s 2-0 victory against Wolves – Eagles move to ninth in the Premier League and remain six unbeaten

Second-half goals from Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher extended Crystal Palace’s unbeaten run to six games and moved them up to ninth in the Premier League.

Patrick Vieira made one change to the side that beat Manchester City 2-0 last weekend – Christian Benteke coming into the starting line up for Jordan Ayew.

Here are Edmund Brack’s five takeaways from Selhurst Park:

PALACE STRUGGLED TO BREAK DOWN WOLVES IN THE FIRST HALF

In a similar vein to games against Newcastle, Brighton, Arsenal and Leicester, Patrick Vieira’s side failed to break down the stubborn low block of Wolves in the first half.

Despite having the majority of possession, passes, touches and shots, the dominant hosts struggled to find a route to goal.

Odsonne Edouard and Wilfried Zaha linked up well to test Jose Sa. However, the Frenchman’s shot from just inside the area forced a comfortable save for the Portuguese goalkeeper.

With Wolves applying the dark arts to incense the Selhurst Park crowd, the first half petered out with little threat from Palace.

A TALE OF TWO HALVES

After the subdued first 45 minutes, the second half proved the catalyst to ignite an attacking spark in the Eagles.

Odsonne Edouard, Christian Benteke and Zaha rediscovered their coherent bond and pressed ferociously to pen Wolves into their own half.

With James McArthur and Gallagher moving higher up the pitch to join in on the high press, McArthur was in the right place to collect the ball outside the area and render the Wolves defence motionless to find Zaha. The Ivorian’s expertly-timed run saw him evade the offside trap and slot home his second in two games.

Gallagher rounded off an intense period of pressure by picking up the ball on the edge of the area, taking two touches to stride towards the goal, and struck a shot that hit Conor Coady and rolled past Jose Sa.

UNBEATEN SINCE MID-SEPTEMBER & DEFENCE BECOMING STEELY

The last time Vieira’s side fell to defeat was away to Liverpool in mid-September. Since the 3-0 loss, Palace have implemented a style of play that is winning plaudits, scoring goals and climbing their way up the league table.

It’s easy to forget sometimes that Marc Guehi is still only 21. The summer arrival from Chelsea plays with such maturity and composure – seamlessly adapting to life at Selhurst Park under Vieira. Guehi has only been dribbled past once this season and has won 80 per cent of his ground duels.

With Guehi and his centre back partner, Joachim Andersen registering 200 touches between them yesterday afternoon, Palace have a consistent foundation on which to build attacks.

Joel Ward and Tyrick Mitchell continue to excel in their full-back positions.

Ward, who won the club’s October Player of the Month, made two vital blocks to deny Wolves an opportunity at goal, and Mitchell, 22, continues to grow in stature game by game.

Against a Wolves side who were unbeaten in their last five, Palace kept the attacking trio of Hwang Hee-Chan, Raul Jimenez, and Franciso Trincao quiet all afternoon – only allowing two shots on target at Vicente Guaita’s goal.

KOUYATE THRIVES IN A MIDFIELD ROLE AND EXCELLENT GALLAGHER

Sitting just in front of the back four appears the perfect place for Cheikhou Kouyate to feature in Vieira’s Crystal Palace side.

The defensive midfielder followed up his superb performance away at the champions with an even more dominant display on Saturday. Winning all eight of his attempted tackles, Kouyate expertly broke up the play, won the ball back for his side, and allowed McArthur and Gallagher to join in on the attack and search for goal contributions.

There aren’t enough superlatives to describe how Gallagher has started life at Selhurst Park. The combative midfielder has the energy to drive forward and determination to track back, added to an astute eye for a goal and a killer instinct for a defence-splitting pass.

Gallagher sets the tone to the attacking tune by closing down a loose ball or a clearance to win the ball back high up the pitch. The chants of “sign him up” have already begun only 11 games into his Crystal Palace career.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY

The level of consistency in Palace’s performances is one of the key factors behind their surge towards the top half of the table.

If the game plan is executed to perfection, Palace are no longer a side that have to worry about what an opponent may do to them, as the relentless nature of their performances sees them dominate games and attempt to deny their opponents any opportunity of note.

While Chelsea was an anomaly, Palace have been competitive in every game this season. Even in the loss to Liverpool, Palace had their chances to take points from the game.

The Eagles have amassed 71 shots in their last six games, with the constant attacking threat that they possess under Vieira an aspect of the game which has been sorely missed in previous seasons.

The attacking substitutions paid dividends once again, with Michael Olise, Jeffrey Schlupp and Jordan Ayew adding an attacking threat and the ability to help see the victory out.