Eze and Olise rescue Crystal Palace to achieve vital victory against Sheffield United | first division

Crisis, what crisis? Roy Hodgson has seen it all in his long coaching career, but even the former England manager must have feared the worst when Ben Brereton Díaz put Sheffield United ahead within the first 30 seconds.

Fortunately for him, spectacular performances from Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise in their fourth appearance together this season came to Crystal Palace's rescue to ease the pressure on Hodgson after a disastrous run of results.

Chairman Steve Parish had made it clear that the 76-year-old's future depended on his performance against Chris Wilder's side and twice coming back from a goal down to two goals from a rejuvenated Eze after James McAtee scored Sheffield United's second. , it was Olise who grabbed the headlines with a fabulous goal.

The only brake for the locals came when both had to be replaced later due to injury problems. Hodgson admitted Eze could be a doubt for the trip to arch-rivals Brighton on Saturday.

“While those two were on the pitch, we were excellent in attack,” the Palace boss said. “They are very valuable players on long-term contracts and it is up to us to make ourselves a better team so they don't feel like they have to go somewhere else.”

Parish's response to the strong criticism of his followers after his embarrassing 5‑0 win against Arsenal 10 days ago it had been all about spending money, with the arrival of Colombian right-back Daniel Muñoz on Tuesday morning quickly followed by the news that a fee of more than £20m had been agreed for Blackburn teenager Adam Wharton. But although the mood in south London also improved before kick-off with the return of Olise from injury and Jordan Ayew from the African Cup of Nations, conceding a goal to the Premier League bottom in the first 22 seconds was certainly not part of The Plan.

A clever routine straight from the training pitch that tricked the Palace players into thinking they were about to kick the ball into the corner allowed Gustavo Hamer to run onto a move from Oli McBurnie and deliver a brilliant pass. Brereton Díaz still had plenty to do, but the Chilean striker made it look simple when he scored his second goal since arriving on loan from Villarreal from the edge of the area. Selhurst Park was stunned into silence.

Olise proved to be Palace's savior after they conceded a Early goal here against Brentford in his last appearance at the end of December and once again it was the France U21 striker who provided the spark. After tormenting his marker Auston Trusty for the first quarter of an hour, he finally got his reward when Eze unleashed a perfect cross past new Sheffield United goalkeeper Ivo Grbic.

However, if Palace thought this would be a platform for their return, they were wrong. Within three minutes the visitors were ahead again when McAtee's shot deflected off Marc Guéhi and over Henderson after Eze had given the ball away cheaply. The English midfielder made up for his indiscretion by equalizing during a breathless period of play, finishing off Olise's pass from outside the area with his weaker left foot.

Grbic, who suffered a baptism of fire in his debut last week when conceded five times against Brighton in the FA Cup, he needed lengthy treatment at the start of the second half after being hit by Jean-Philippe Mateta. The Croatian international was extremely reluctant to leave the pitch and pleaded with the medical staff to allow him to continue, but was eventually replaced by former Palace goalkeeper Wes Foderingham.

Eze opened a chance for Olise with an excellent reverse pass which Foderingham did well to push away at his near post before Mateta fired in from a tight angle. But the moment Olise had been waiting for came shortly after, when the ball was deflected into his path and he fired for the first time past Foderingham at the far post. After celebrating his goal with enthusiasm, he was immediately removed as a precaution.

“We could have used Olise to have a few more days off, but that's the challenge you face in this league,” Wilder said. “When you're up against two players who are worth more than £50m each, sometimes you just have to put your hands up.”

A mazy run from Eze would have settled matters if not for Foderingham's clever save at his near post before he was also sent off. Palace then had to survive a late attack when United sensed an opportunity, but a relieved Hodgson was able to celebrate a vital victory after captain Anel Ahmedhodzic's header hit the crossbar at the last moment.