Wolves' unhappy new year sees 2-0 defeat by Palace

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 2, 2019 Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic celebrates scoring their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine

Jan 2 (Reuters) - WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0 CRYSTAL PALACE 2

Wolverhampton Wanderers' impressive Premier League campaign hit the buffers on Wednesday as two goals in the dying minutes enabled Crystal Palace to take all three points with a 2-0 win at Molineux.

Looking out of sorts at the start of the year, Nuno Espirito Santo's Wolves had only needed a draw to become the first promoted team to garner 30 points after 21 matches in a top flight season since Birmingham City in 2009-10.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 2, 2019 Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic celebrates scoring their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine

Instead, their hopes of rising as high as seventh were spoiled as Palace deservedly took the spoils with Ghanaian international Jordan Ayew firing home his first goal for the club in the 83rd minute.

Luka Milivojevic then converted from the penalty spot, five minutes into added time, after Ryan Bennett had brought down Wilfried Zaha.

It gave Palace consecutive away wins in the same Premier League season for the first time in two years and Roy Hodgson's team were well worth the points.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 2, 2019 Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic scores their second goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Darren Staples

"I thought we were the team pushing for the goal and when we eventually got it I think we can say we deserved it," Palace's former England manager told the BBC.

Of Ayew's goal he added: "Jordan worked so hard and it was fitting he could score the goal that has eluded him and us for so long.

"I'm really pleased with the performance, discipline and delighted to win a game away from home because it makes the Christmas period quite a good one for us."

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 2, 2019 Crystal Palace's Andros Townsend celebrates with team mates in front of the fans at the end of the match Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine

Palace dominated the first half, with only their profligate finishing letting them down - with Andros Townsend's dismal ballooned right-footed shot and James Tomkins' missed header proving the most glaring examples.

Wolves, as befits their reputation this term as second-half revivalists, looked much sharper on the resumption, creating more chances in the opening four minutes after the break than in the entire first-half.

Having now overseen five defeats in their last seven home league games and watching his side muster only one shot on target all night, Nuno understandably sounded concerned by this latest Molineux setback.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 2, 2019 Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic celebrates at the end of the match with Wilfried Zaha Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine

"There's no excuses. We didn't perform well. Palace had one day less to prepare than us, so there's no excuses," the Portuguese told the BBC.

(Reporting by Ian Chadband; Editing by Alison Williams and Pritha Sarkar)

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 2, 2019 Wolverhampton Wanderers' Ryan Bennett fouls Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha resulting in a penalty being awarded to Crystal Palace Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 2, 2019 Wolverhampton Wanderers' Ryan Bennett fouls Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha resulting in a penalty being awarded to Crystal Palace Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 2, 2019 Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic celebrates scoring their second goal with Wilfried Zaha and team mates Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 2, 2019 Crystal Palace's Mamadou Sakho celebrates at the end of the match Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine

Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - January 2, 2019 Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic scores their second goal from the penalty spot Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine