Marc Guéhi scores for Crystal Palace and prevents Wolves from winning their first win of the season | Premier League

How many chances will Gary O'Neil have left to claim that elusive first division win of the season? Wolves, who deservedly trailed when Trevoh Chalobah opened the scoring, managed to squander the lead in the second half after Jørgen Strand Larsen and João Gomes turned the tables on Crystal Palace with two goals in five minutes. Maybe the Wolves thought the hard work was done.

For long stretches Wolves played like a team down on their luck and, having sacked their set-piece coach last month, things weren't looking too good for O'Neil, with both Palace goals coming from dead balls and Marc Guéhi his opponent escaped. Substitute Gonçalo Guedes scores a point after a corner. Wolves have conceded nine goals from set pieces, which is the most in the league. It's too easy to score against Wolves; They also lead the goals conceded list this season. The numbers are grim. Wolves last beat a current top team in March when they defeated Fulham and last kept a clean sheet in the league in February.

In the end, O'Neil was – unusually – grateful for the VAR, which supported referee Anthony Taylor's decision to disallow Jean-Philippe Mateta's 96th-minute goal for a foul on José Sá. The Wolves goalkeeper knew he was fighting with Daniel Muñoz for the free ball after Mario Lemina slid inside to stop a cross from Mateta from reaching Muñoz. Sá tried to suffocate with both hands, Muñoz stuck his right boot into the mix, the ball arced free and Mateta ended up in an empty net. The palace bench spiraled out of control. The PGMOL clarified that the decision stood because the officials believed Sá had control of the ball.

Crucially, O'Neil may have lost local support. Sections of the home fans mocked his triple substitution shortly after Ismaïla Sarr missed a second chance to extend Palace's lead. When asked if he had the support of the hierarchy, the Wolves head coach replied: “I'm not sure, I'll just get on and do my job, I enjoy working with the group. “We have to get better . In the end, everything is my responsibility, which I am happy to take on. The criticism of the substitutes, the criticism of the goals can end up with me, no problem.”

Wolves stay down and things look more and more threatening. If O'Neil survives until next Saturday's visit to Southampton, who picked up their first win against Everton on Saturday, it feels like this game will be crucial. At this point in the season even the infamous Derby team, who were relegated with a paltry 11 points, had six points to their name. After a brutal run of games at the start of the season, this game always seemed like the right place for a pick-me-up, even more so with Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton ruled out after missing out in Palace's Carabao Cup win at Aston Villa in midweek had sustained injuries. Oliver Glasner knew it. “'Oh, Palace are coming, lots of injuries, they played at Villa three days before,'” the Palace manager said. “'Come on guys, it's time to take the win.'”

After Palace missed a couple of early chances, one of them in comedic fashion when Chalobah recorded a swing and miss from three yards out before Mateta fired the rebound at his teammate, Wolves finally woke up. Pablo Sarabia was thwarted twice by Dean Henderson, with the Palace goalkeeper failing to buy his dummy the first time and conceding his second attempt with a flush to the face.

The wolves were listless, the palace was adventurous, and the visitors got their reward every hour on the hour. Palace played a short free kick and Will Hughes sent a cross into the box. Strand Larsen headed forward but Sá had made progress to win the ball and so Wolves offered Chalobah a chance at the back post with the goal gaping. Chalobah chested the ball and hit it from a tight angle.

Matheus Cunha scored a point in Brighton and equalized here. The Brazilian latched on to a pass from Santiago Bueno, played the ball out of his feet and let Strand Larsen do the rest as the Norwegian slotted his finish through the legs of Henderson.

Wolves then turned the game on its head when Gomes sidefooted low into the corner at the end of a clever move. Lemina saved Daichi Kamada with a pirouette, Cunha stormed forward and Guedes passed for Gomes. Unfortunately for O'Neil, it wasn't the final act. Fans are alarmed. “The place won’t feel like a bed of roses and smiley faces,” he said. “We are in a duel and struggling to win games.”