Report & Highlights: Eagles soar to new heights and Wardy bids Selhurst farewell

Summary:

• SE25 welcomes home its history-making 2025 FA Cup-winning side.
• Final home match of 2024/25 sees a Premier League points record on the line, as well as Joel Ward’s final home match for the Eagles, the No. 2 wearing the armband.
• 5: Sarr glances wide Chilwell’s early free-kick after good work from Nketiah.
• 17: Chilwell’s low drive across goal is parried away by Bentley after Nketiah sets him up.
• 24 – GOAL: Agbadou’s scruffy header from a Wolves corner gives visitors the lead.
• 27 – GOAL: Nketiah curls home an equaliser as Eagles reply immediately.
• 32 – GOAL: Nketiah then slams home from close range after brilliant ball by Sarr.
• 37: Ward makes well-timed tackle on Bellegarde to deny attacker a clear chance.
• 43: Nketiah runs clear from Hughes’ clipped pass but slices effort under pressure.
• HT: Palace 2-1 Wolves
• 50 – GOAL: Chilwell’s free-kick takes deflection but picks out the bottom corner.
• 60: Muñoz makes vital last-ditch challenge on Sarabia.
• 62 – GOAL: Strand Larsen pulls a goal back for Wolves with header from a corner.
• 71: Selhurst rises to applaud off – and teammates race across to acclaim – Joel Ward, the club’s all-time record Premier League appearance maker, exiting the Selhurst pitch.
• 77: Henderson makes superb flying save to keep out Guedes’ first-time volley.
• 80: Munetsi’s effort deflects not far over the bar and Cunha heads wide.
• 81: Selhurst Park welcomes Cup Final goalscorer Eze, and leading season score Mateta, off the bench.
• 86 – GOAL: Eze caps a magical night, and the points record, with a precise low finish from Devenny’s pass.
• FT: Palace 4-2 Wolves
• A lap of appreciation, reciprocated, ends the night, along with tributes to Ward.
• What a season at Selhurst Park.

A carnival-like atmosphere engulfed Selhurst Park as it welcomed home its very own history makers; its very own FA Cup heroes; its very own Crystal Palace.

There was one more slice of history to win, however, and Oliver Glasner presented opportunities to six players who had not started at Wembley: Ward, on his 364th Crystal Palace appearance, some 13 years after his debut, was handed the captain’s armband and his first Premier League start of the season in his final home match at Selhurst Park.

January arrivals Ben Chilwell and Romain Esse were also handed their first Premier League starts for Palace, while three more players were introduced to the starting XI: midfielders Jefferson Lerma and Will Hughes, and striker Eddie Nketiah.

Although Saturday’s match was undoubtedly the highlight in Palace’s calendar – perhaps history – there remained plenty to play for in SE25: a solitary point would secure 50 for the season – a club record-total – and, as manager Glasner admitted in his pre-match press conference, two extra days off for his players as per prior arrangement.

With Wolves admittedly also having only a single league position left to play for, it was not the most intense of starts to the game, as Selhurst Park made its way through its songbook with gusto – with a few new editions of Toto’s Africa, Elvis’ I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You, and the newly-sung We’re All Going on a European Tour.

But Palace did create a clear opening after five minutes, when Chilwell – in the last home match of his six-month loan spell from Chelsea – curled in a free-kick which Ismaïla Sarr, leaning backwards at the near post, glanced wide of the far.

The game did eventually open up fully nearing the 20-minute mark, and Chilwell had the chance to grab his first Palace goal when good work from Eddie Nketiah made him space in the corner of the area; his cross-shot tested Dan Bentley in the Wolves’ net, but his parry was swept up before a red and blue shirt could pounce on the ball.

Moments later, with their first real sustained attack, Wolves took the lead.

A corner in from Pablo Sarabia took a deflection off a combination of shirts and popped up kindly for Emmanuel Agbadou inside the six-yard box. He instinctively headed goalwards and, despite Nketiah’s efforts to clear, the Goal Decision System confirmed the whole of the ball crossed the whole of the line.

There can’t have been many more relaxed responses to an opposition goal in Selhurst’s 100-year history; if anything, it seemed to increase the noise and spur the Eagles on, as they soon began to carve out clear chances seemingly at will through Sarr and Esse.

The first chance saw Esse pick out his opposite number with a delightful clipped pass which Sarr headed goalwards – but the second, the equaliser, was a goal made hugely in South London.

At the culmination of a flowing move, Esse showed supreme footwork on the byline to beat his man and – with calmness – play it back for Nketiah, who side-stepped his marker and bent home a low finish into the bottom corner.

And five minutes later, the FA Cup winners were in front for the first time. The goal was kick-started by a moment of brilliance from Daniel Muñoz, winning a header on the right, keeping it in play and putting in Sarr down the right with a scissor kick.

The Senegal forward duly slid the ball across the six-yard box for Nketiah to apply the simplest of finishes and send SE25 into further delirium.

The atmosphere was bolstered by every single Joel Ward contribution – with half-time approaching, he made a particularly important block tackle on Jean-Ricner Bellegarde which may have just as well have been a goal.

Nketiah had the chance to complete his hat-trick on the stroke of half-time, racing clear from Will Hughes’ clipped cross and turning past the ‘keeper – but under pressure from a covering defender, he cut across the ball with his weaker left foot.

Half-time saw further roars of delight – Palace fans, just three days on from the day of their lives, aware they were witnessing more club history.

The players returned after half-time with similar expressiveness and confidence on the ball – and just five minutes into the party-like atmosphere of the second-half, scored their third goal of the night.

It was perhaps a fortunate one – owing a great deal to a significant deflection – but Chilwell won’t care, his free-kick clipping a head in the Wolves wall and trickling into the opposite bottom corner for the England international’s first goal for the club.

That goal admittedly seemed to spur the visitors into life, and moments after Muñoz made an important block from Sarabia’s curling effort, they did get a goal back: a simple flicked header at the near post by Jørgen Strand Larsen finding the far corner.

This past two weeks have seen emotion like no other in SE25, and moments after receiving a yellow card for a committed challenge, there was to be another moment of history as Ward was given the fondest of farewells by teammates, fans and manager alike, exiting the pitch – amidst a Selhurst serenade – to be replaced by Daichi Kamada.

Into the closing stages we went, and Wolves were admittedly the side who looked the more likely to score, as Goncalo Guedes thumping first-time volley was kept out by a heroic save by Dean Henderson, not the ‘keeper’s first in recent days; Marshall Munetsi’s effort from range deflected over the bar not by much; and Matheus Cunha headed wide from close range.

But that would not have been in-keeping with the rest of the night. What happened next, was.

A quick pass from half-time substitute Justin Devenny gave Eze, not long off the bench, an overload on the left-hand side, and as he jinked inside and used the supporting runs to make space, his precise low finish picked out the bottom-left corner: more history, a sixth scoring match in a row for the Eagles.

Late chances came and went for Muñoz and Jean-Philippe Mateta – no matter.

So much to celebrate, to revel in. So much to cheer, to delight in. These are happy days indeed.

Regardless of whether we finish 12th – or higher – at Liverpool, we have a new Premier League points record (at least 52).

We have an FA Cup, a major trophy, to our name, arriving in the most remarkable of manners.

We have European football – the UEFA Europa League, no less – coming to Selhurst Park.

We even had, in injury time, an Oliver Glasner wave to Selhurst Park, to a rapturous reception.

Drink every drop of it in – this is your Crystal Palace.

Palace: Henderson (GK), Ward (Kamada, 71), Lacroix, Richards, Muñoz, Lerma, Hughes (Devenny, HT), Chilwell, Sarr (França, 63), Esse (Eze, 81), Nketiah (Mateta, 81).

Subs: Turner (GK), Mitchell, Clyne, Kporha.

Wolves: Bentley (GK), R Gomes (Hwang, 81), Djiga (Semedo, HT), Agbadou, Toti, Ait-Nouri, Andre (J Gomes, HT), Bellegarde, Sarabia (Cunha, 67), Guedes, Strand Larsen (Munetsi, 67).

Subs: King (GK), Doherty, Bueno, Lima.

AS IT HAPPENED (INCLUDING POST-MATCH CELEBRATIONS)