4-4-2 does the trick for Vieira
At half-time last night, things looked pretty glum for Crystal Palace. They had struggled to create clear openings in the opening 45 minutes against well organised opponents, and were lucky to be only one goal behind after Ruben Neves' free-kick on the stroke of the whistle came back off the post.
The team that emerged for the second period was unrecognizable. No doubt Patrick Vieira shared some choice words with his players at the break to fire them up, but his tactical choice to move Wilfried Zaha into a central role alongside Odsonne Édouard was perhaps more crucial.
With both Zaha and Édouard occupying defenders in the middle, more space emerged for the wide men to create. The switch paid off instantly as Michael Olise crossed from the right and an unmarked Ebere Eze stole in from the other flank to head home unmarked.
Nelson Semedo had kept Zaha quiet in the opening 45 but with the Ivorian drifting between the wide and central areas for the remainder of the half, Semedo could not cope and was left trailing in his wake again for the winning goal.
Perhaps Vieira should channel his inner Mike Bassett more frequently.
Palace finding consistency against nearest rivals
Three points against Wolves continued a promising trend this season for the Eagles. They remain unbeaten against non "big 6" teams, with 3 wins and 3 draws from 6 fixtures this season, at an average of 2 points per game (PPG). By contrast, they have picked up just 1 point from 4 games against Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Last season, Palace's average points tally was more consistent, as they got 1.2 PPG against the big 6, and 1.3 PPG from everyone else.
Vieira will surely feel encouraged by that direction of travel. Nobody wants to lose any games, even to the superclubs, but the reality is that two thirds of their fixtures come against the 'other 14' and these are the most important games to win.
While giving the big boys a bloody nose is always fun, Palace's performance this season will ultimately be determined more by their results against the teams around them. In this regard, they have made an excellent start.
Costa a shadow of his former self
The substitution of Diego Costa in the 75th minute at Selhurst Park brought loud ironic cheers from the home fans. The veteran forward had just been trying - and failing - to wind up Joachim Andersen, much to the chagrin of the Selhurst faithful.
Costa was once one of the most deadly and feared strikers in Europe, who had an incredible talent for both scoring goals and rubbing opposition centre-backs up the wrong way. However, at 34 years old, he doesn't look very good at doing either any more.
Wolves signed Costa out of desperation in the summer after losing both Raul Jimenez and Sasa Kalajdzic to injury, and he is not delivering the goals they so badly need.
In his 4 appearances he has registered a total xG of just 0.4, and fluffed his lines last night with his one big chance of the game. Great work by Daniel Podence saw Costa played clean through on goal, but he couldn't get a shot off and bundled the ball wide.
Barring an incredible turnaround in Costa's fortunes, Wolves will surely have to go into the market in January for a new forward.
Promising debut for Bueno
20-year old Hugo Bueno made his first ever start for Wolves here at left-back, and should be delighted with his performance.
The Spaniard, brought to the club as a youth player in 2019, was outstanding throughout and set up the opening goal for Adama Traore after a powerful overlapping run and pinpoint cross.
As well as grabbing an assist, Bueno also completed 91% of his passes and made 7 progressive carries with the ball, both team-highs. No wonder caretaker boss Steve Davis described it as 'a fantastic debut'.
These are uncertain times for the Midlands club as they seek a permanent replacement for Bruno Lage and hover just above the relegation zone, so the sight of a youth product making such a promising start to his career provides a much-needed reason to be cheerful.