Munoz and Pino's Second-Half Strikes End Wolves' Misery—For Palace

Atla Futmetrix Puanı: 32/100. Palace's efficiency masked a sterile first half; Wolves' implosion made it look worse than it was.

When Clinical Finishing Meets Total Collapse

Molineux was a graveyard. For 63 minutes, both sides circled each other like boxers afraid to throw—49% possession for Wolves, 51% for Crystal Palace, neither team willing to commit to the Intensity required to break the deadlock. Then Wolves' defense fractured. Adam Wharton threaded a pass that found D. Munoz, who finished with the precision of a surgeon at the 63rd minute. Six minutes later, Pino made it 2-0, again with Wharton pulling the strings. The Balance had shifted irrevocably.

What made this defeat particularly damning wasn't the scoreline—it was the manner. Wolves generated eight shots (only one on target) and 1.76 expected goals. Palace managed 10 shots with four on target and just 1.35 xG. The visitors did more with less, a damning indictment of Wolves' execution and decision-making in the final third. Five yellow cards flew across the pitch, mostly for frustration; the Stakes were suffocating for a team fighting relegation, yet the performance betrayed panic, not purpose.

The Stakes couldn't have been starker. Wolves sit 20th with two points from 12 games—a record so catastrophic it reads like a typo. Five consecutive losses have turned Molineux from fortress to tomb. Palace, by contrast, arrived fifth and departed with a clean sheet, their fifth win of the campaign. This wasn't an upset; it was the expected order asserting itself. The pre-match probability had Palace as favorites (52%), and they delivered with the efficiency of a side eyeing European football.

Wharton's 8.3 rating and assist-heavy performance (two key passes, one assist) underscored Palace's control. He dictated tempo, found pockets of space, and turned half-chances into goals. Wolves' 81% pass accuracy (330 of 406) suggests they moved the ball, but to no end—a carousel of sideways passes masquerading as football.

This was competent away-day execution, nothing more. Palace won't set the world alight on this showing, but they won't need to. Wolves, meanwhile, are drowning.