We’ve enjoyed a hint of the brooding tactical genius rarely displayed by Gary O’Neil since his Monday Night Football appearance a year ago. But the Wolves need much, much more.

League players on Sunday nodded their approval as Trevoh Chalobah swung the ball with his other foot while facing the goalkeeper only to momentarily regret his own incompetence before blocking Philippe Mateta’s shot on goal. This summed up the good chances of the first half and the bad ending for both sides.

But the Chelsea loanee made up for this hilarious moment in the second half, displaying the poise and quality that every other player on the pitch lacked until the moment he was given the opportunity to score.

Much more experienced finishers would have panicked when Jose Sa came and crossed and the ball fell to Chalobah at the back post. He took a perfect touch on the thigh before half-volleying a shot into the empty goal from a tight angle.

Crystal Palace had many chances before and after this; Among the spenders was Ismaila Sarr. It was almost impressive that he failed to score; He took perhaps the best opportunity from the penalty spot well over the bar after the ball was cut back to him, and he also curled another shot well wide of the post when placed.

Matheus Cunha was Wolves’ biggest threat and had two superb assists denied by Pablo Sarabia’s indecisiveness. Pablo Sarabia had twice waited too long only to deny clear opportunities when faced with Dean Henderson and was booed by the Wolves fans. Gary O’Neil was withdrawn on the hour mark when he incurred the wrath of Wolves fans by removing Tommy Doyle, throwing caution to the wind with a trio of substitutions.

He had to do it, it felt like the end for him.

Chalobah, who gave Palace the lead, chested as Wolves regained parity, miscalculating the flight of a changeover and being brought down, while Cunha chested the ball down with a suspected arm and then played a delicate pass. Jorgen Strand stepped out of his boot for Larsen to run towards Henderson and calmly get under him.

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Five minutes later, Mario Lemina, who came on for Toti Gomes but was actually playing in midfield, did a great job of finding Cunha, who was playing in the Palace defence, feeding substitute Goncalo Guedes down the right before finding the perfect Joao with a first-frame pass. Gomes calmly sent the ball into the corner. It was a nice move.

However, in the second half, both teams could not control the match, which was quite entertaining. Palace kept pushing and Marc Guehi equalized from a corner thanks to some very static defending from Wolves, the Wolves manager getting on with his job after another winless game.

O’Neil retains his status in the minds of the majority as one of football’s deep thinkers; That reputation appears to have been earned by his appearance on Monday Night Football on Sky Sports a year ago.

Since then, no Premier League team that has played all 39 games has collected fewer points than Wolves (38), and although many have – quite reasonably – considered O’Neil’s tactical skills here as substitutions and in-game management change can say it shows. The game is getting worse, to the point where we can close our eyes to the results and how easily opposing teams are scoring goals against Wolves.

They scored as many goals as third-placed Nottingham Forest (14), but conceded 27 goals to their seven goals. They scored six more goals than any other team in the Premier League. They have enough attack to be a mid-table team through Cunha, Strand Larsen and others, and O’Neil’s possession tactics are working. There are clear patterns of play and Wolves are a good watch.

But defensively they are everywhere, both from open play and from set pieces, and yes, they lost their best defender in Max Kilman in the summer, but this seems to be as much about poor organization as a lack of individual quality.

O’Neil, who considers himself lucky to still be in charge despite the difficult matches at the beginning of the season, is done. However, this was a game they should have won at home against a team of similar quality.

There are some relatively easy fixtures for Wolves; They need their manager to impart his lesser-seen tactical brilliance to take them off the bottom of the table and keep them on the bench.