Crystal Palace secured their Premier League safety with an impressive 2-0 home victory over Newcastle United on Wednesday night. Goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta in the 54th and 84th minutes sealed the deal for the Eagles, who moved up to 14th place in the table with 39 points from 34 games. Newcastle’s European hopes took a blow with their 10th away defeat of the season, leaving them 10th on 43 points.
In the other Premier League match on Wednesday, Bournemouth snapped a three-game winless run with a 1-0 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Antoine Semenyo’s first-half strike proved to be the difference between the two sides, lifting Bournemouth to 10th place in the standings. Wolves remain 12th on 43 points after picking up just two points from their last six games.
Mateta opened the scoring for Palace with a well-worked goal in the 54th minute. The French striker exchanged passes with Jordan Ayew before firing home from close range. He sealed the points late on after good work from Will Hughes and substitute Jeffrey Schlupp.
Semenyo’s goal for Bournemouth came in the 37th minute. The Ghanaian forward pounced on a loose ball in the Wolves defense and slotted home from close range. Wolves improved after the break and thought they had equalized with Hwang Hee-chan’s header in the 66th minute, but the goal was ruled out by VAR for a Matheus Cunha foul in the build-up.
Bournemouth were reduced to 10 men with 11 minutes remaining when Milos Kerkez was shown a straight red card for a poor tackle on Matt Doherty. Wolves found the net in stoppage time through Fabio Silva, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
