Eze and Olise lead Crystal Palace to victory in a five-goal thriller against Sheffield United.

In Crystal Palace’s 3-2 win against Sheffield United, Michael Olise, 22, returned to action with an impactful performance, providing two assists and scoring the winning goal. However, manager Roy Hodgson faced concern as his key player had to leave the field prematurely due to an injury.

Both teams, engaged in a relegation battle, displayed a strong desire for three points, resulting in an intense first half where the first four shots on target all ended up as goals.

The opening goal was scored by Sheffield United within 21 seconds, with Ben Brereton Diaz converting a nine-pass sequence with his trademark curling shot from the edge of the area into the bottom-right corner. This marked his second goal in as many appearances for his new loan club.

A disheartened Selhurst Park crowd could only watch as the message of ‘wasted potential on and off the pitch’ echoed from the stands following Crystal Palace’s significant loss to Arsenal.

In an effort to revive hope, Eberechi Eze unexpectedly leveled the score with an acrobatic flick at the end of Olise’s cross. However, the Blades swiftly regained their lead just three minutes later.

Executing a rapid counterattack, Oliver McBurnie shrugged off two challenges and passed the ball to James McAtee. The Manchester City loanee unleashed an early shot that, with a stroke of luck, looped over Dean Henderson, deflecting off Marc Guehi in the process.

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In the concluding moments of the first half, Olise and Eze collaborated again, with a swift pass from Olise to Eze allowing the latter to create space and execute a remarkable long-range strike, thereby doubling his goal tally for the day.

Looking at it from this angle, the return of Olise from injury significantly alleviated the hosts’ attacking challenges, considering they had been unable to score in the three matches he missed.

The stage was set for an exciting second half to determine the ultimate winner.

Perhaps, unexpectedly trailing behind twice proved to be a fortunate twist of fate for Palace, especially considering their inability to secure victories in the two most recent matches where they held a lead at home. This turned out to be true as Olise, 23 minutes before full time, secured what would be the decisive goal.

Following a blocked cross from Jean-Philippe Mateta, Olise seized the opportunity, striking a half-volley from outside the box, and witnessed it find the bottom-left corner of the net.

The winger’s departure due to another injury marked his final contribution, an unfortunate sight for the home supporters despite his outstanding performance earning him the man-of-the-match title. However, in the short term, this injury-driven exit widens the gap between their team and the bottom three to six points.

On the other hand, Sheffield United continues to linger at the bottom of the table, now trailing by nine points from safety.