Four takeaways from Crystal Palace’s 2-0 defeat at Wolves – Hodgson’s unbeaten run comes to an end but plenty of positives from Molineux

Crystal Palace suffered a 2-0 defeat to Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves on Tuesday evening.

Here are Adam Sells’ takeaways from Molineux:

Roy’s run comes to an end…

Roy Hodgson’s unbeaten run came to an end in what was surely a frustrating night for the Eagles.

It’s a game of moments, and Palace will have left Molineux not knowing quite how they were beaten, let alone by two goals, as Wolves posed little threat during ninety minutes.

The visitors dominated the game for long periods. They had more possession, more shots on goal, more shots on target and more corners.

But despite pegging back Wolves, there was no positive outcome.

This was the second game in a row that Palace have failed to score and the fifteenth occasion in thirty-three games that they have failed to score in the Premier League this season.

A point would have been the minimum they deserved, but two unfortunate moments cost Palace at both ends of the game.

Hard Luck Joa

The hapless Joachim Andersen was the first fall guy, as the ball ricocheted off him from a corner inside three minutes.

This was Andersen’s second own goal of the season, and both have come in the west Midlands, having previously put through his own goal at Villa Park in March, as Palace lost 1-0 under the stewardship of Patrick Vieira.

Ironically it was a day when there was little threat on the Palace goa,l and it was very much a feeling of déjà vu here.

To cap off a miserable night, Andersen had to be withdrawn at half-time with a hamstring strain.

Dejected Johnstone

Sam Johnstone has been superb since getting his chance. At Molineux, he was roundly booed with every touch, having previously been at Wolves’ bitter rivals West Brom.

Rarely troubled, Johnstone was coolness personified, only to suffer an unfortunate ending as he was forced to lunge following a big touch following a back pass in injury time.

Johnstone brought down Pedro Neto and was unable to redeem himself, as Ruben Neves tucked away the penalty to ensure Palace came away with nothing.

Plenty of positives…

Roy Hodgson was upbeat during the post-match press conference – this was not a poor performance by any means.

With three games in a week, the Palace boss shuffled the pack giving starts to Chris Richards, Luka Milivojevic and Albert Sambi Lokonga.

Though both Milivojevic and Lakonga put in good shifts, the introduction of Jeffrey Schlupp during the second half and the moving of Eberechi Eze into a central role saw Hodgson’s men take a real grip of the game.

There is the nucleus of a very good squad at Selhurst Park, and some shrewd business in the summer could see Palace push on without having to spend huge sums.