LONDON: Eberechi Eze and the returning Michael Olise put on a dazzling attacking display as Crystal Palace came from behind to beat Sheffield United 3-2 on Tuesday (Jan 30) and secure back-to-back home wins in the Premier League for the first time this season.
Palace climbed to 14th in the table, with 24 points from 22 matches, relieving some of the pressure on manager Roy Hodgson. Sheffield United stayed rooted to the foot of the table with 10 points from 22 games.
A frantic first half hour at Selhurst Park saw Sheffield United take the lead twice. Ben Brereton Diaz’s curled effort put the Blades ahead in the opening minute and James McAtee’s deflected shot restored the visitors’ advantage after Eze had levelled the scores.
But Eze’s second equaliser – a sublime finish from the edge of the area – restored parity, before Olise added to his two assists with a superb, dipping strike in the second half that clipped the post on its way into the Sheffield United net.
Olise had not featured since December and he showed exactly what Palace had been missing as the home side time and again used his attacking threat down the right flank.
He created Palace’s first equaliser, drifting in a cross for an unmarked Eze to stab acrobatically home, but it was Eze himself who added the sparkle for Palace’s second, feigning to shoot on his right before curling into the top corner from 20 yards with his left.
“I say it all the time. I enjoy playing with him because he’s a top player,” Eze said of Olise.
“Those boys can destroy your game plan through individual brilliance,” said Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder, highlighting the challenge posed by Eze and Olise.
Hodgson said Eze and Olise, along with Jordan Ayew and Jean-Philippe Mateta, enabled Palace to “create chances in a totally different way” and cause tough problems for teams.
“I’ve always believed that the team has a lot of quality and in the first 60 minutes we showed that,” Hodgson said on Sky Sports.
Both of Eze’s goals followed periods of sustained Palace pressure as they twice sought to recover from falling behind. The visitors took the lead before a Palace player had even touched the ball.
Oli McBurnie’s sublime flick gave Gustavo Hamer space to find Brereton Diaz on the left flank and the Chile international bent a precise shot into Dean Henderson’s bottom right-hand corner.
McBurnie was at the heart of Sheffield United’s second goal, too, holding off two defenders to find McAtee, whose shot deflected off Marc Guehi over a helpless Henderson.
Olise’s winner was the highlight of a less frantic second period as he sweetly struck a low shot in off the post.
Palace had more chances, but were unable to establish a two-goal cushion. That nearly cost them as Sheffield United, who had struggled to create goalscoring opportunities, struck the bar through a late Anel Ahmedhodzic header.
Wilder’s side are now nine points adrift of the safety zone.
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