Crystal Palace moved up to fourth in the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Wolves at Molineux as Rob Edwards’ first game ended in defeat.
Second-half goals from Daniel Munoz and Yeremy Pino earned victory for the Eagles in what was a scrappy game, their greater quality proving the difference. Edwards, who left Middlesbrough to take this job, saw effort but little else to encourage him.
Palace put Wolves under pressure from early on, Ismaila Sarr being denied a penalty when the foul by David Moller Wolfe appeared to occur on the line of the 18-yard box, while Jean-Philippe Mateta could only blame himself for missing when clean through.
Wolves' best chance before the break came when Dean Henderson could only kick Joao Gomes' deflected free-kick into the path of Ladislav Krejci who blazed over. Palace had the greater guile but Wolves' battering ram of a forward line was a handful to deal with.
Marshall Munetsi fired over early in the second half and Palace were wobbling, but the game turned on the introduction of Eddie Nketiah for Mateta, winning a corner from which Munoz fired into the net after Adam Wharton's shot deflected kindly for him.
That seemed to sap the belief of the bottom club, with bright spark Pino doubling the lead soon after when he curled the ball high into the net from the edge of the box after being fed by Wharton. Wolves continued to have chances but it was too late for Edwards' side.
That may be true of their season as they are rooted to the foot of the table with only two points from 12 games. Palace's prospects are rather better, this battling win lifting them up to fourth in the table, Oliver Glasner eyeing Europe again.