Wolves defeated Crystal Palace last night – and it was a fantastic evening’s work for Ruben Neves.
The 26-year-old was back starting again for Wanderers, partnering Mario Lemina in midfield.
Neves started on the bench against Leicester City at the weekend, but was chosen ahead of Joao Gomes against the Eagles.
And Neves vindicated Julen Lopetegui’s decision.
He ran the game in the first half an hour, and it was his corner than resulted in Wolves’ opening goal – Joachim Andersen turning into his own net.
Palace applied a lot of pressure in the second-half.
But the Wolves defence stood firm and right at the death the hosts were awarded a penalty for a foul by Sam Johnstone on Pedro Neto. He was lucky not to be sent off.
Neves stepped up and converted. It was never in any doubt.
Neves’ penalty record in the Premier League is perfect.
His latest means he has now scored 8/8 in the top-flight and he is actually closing in on a record.
According to Opta Joe, only two players have better 100% records than the Wolves maestro. They are Yaya Toure (11/11) and Dimitar Berbatov (9/9).
Ruben Neves’ Premier League penalty record is an impressive achievement
Neves is obviously an amazing player, but he deserves credit for his reliability from the penalty spot.
To be eight for eight in the Premier League is really impressive.
That record is in sight for him, but Wolves fans know that they might be watching Neves’ final weeks in the shirt.
Throughout the season he has been linked with an exit from the club. The expectation was that he was going to depart last summer.
He’ll only have a year left on his contract in the summer, so it’s possible Wolves will be open to cash in if he isn’t signing a new deal.
Neves is closing in on Toure’s record. Him surpassing it in a Wolves shirt does feel like a bit of a long shot.
It would be brilliant to see him get a better record than Toure. City’s former £24 million signing is seen as one of the best penalty takers in Premier League history, so to go past him would be phenomenal.