Ruben Neves determined not to get carried away after ‘really important’ win over Crystal Palace
- Planet Sport writer
- 26 April 2023
Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves breathed a sigh of relief after seeing his side beat Crystal Palace but knows the risk of relegation is still hanging over them.
Ruben Neves hailed Wolves' home comforts after they moved to the brink of Premier League safety with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Molineux.
The captain scored a late penalty to wrap up the victory after Joachim Andersen's early own goal had given Wolves the perfect start on Tuesday evening.
The result lifted Julen Lopetegui's side nine points clear of the drop zone with five games left.
Wolves have now gone three consecutive home games without conceding a goal and have won four of their last five at Molineux.
"We thought a lot about this game. We've been in good form playing at home, so we wanted to continue that," Neves told the club's website.
"We spoke a lot before the game started, a massive game for us, that it was really important for us in our fight.
"But it's not done yet. We still have five games to play. Anything can happen in the Premier League but this one was, of course, really important.
"I speak a lot with other players from other teams and they say it's really hard to come here and play because the atmosphere is, for me, one of the best in the Premier League.
"It's really hard to come and play at Molineux, we know that, and we need to use that and enjoy that on the pitch - that's what we wanted to do.
"Three wins at home from the last three games, so really good for us, really important for the league.
"There was a bit of pressure in the second half from Palace, they have a lot of talented players so it's really hard to play against them.
"We kept our goal safe and then at the end was really important, Pedro Neto ran to press and fortunately we scored the second."
Wolves are now level on points with Palace, who lost for the first time since Roy Hodgson returned to the club last month in place of the sacked Patrick Vieira.
"He has given us belief and confidence in ourselves to play how we can," midfielder Eberechi Eze told his club's website.
"It has shown in our performances. We know with games like that there are opportunities and chances we can take.
"We will be positive and move on to the next game. (The midfield changes) gave us more energy. With fresh legs in midfield, we know what that can do. We all know our jobs and our roles, in and out of possession.
"It was a tough one but we are going to move on, be positive and take it into the next game."
