Once the final whistle had gone, Roy Hodgson made his way to Michael Olise and delivered a quick pat on the shoulder and a “well done”. The Crystal Palace winger had scored the first double of his career and, alongside Eberechi Eze, tormented Brentford.
While the pair have started only their third game of the season together, this display was a timely reminder of how reliant Palace are on them, and how Hodgson will be looking to them to pull his side clear of any relegation threat and into the safety of mid-table.
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Theirs is the combination that sets Palace apart from the other sides struggling in the lower half of the table.
Hodgson was not the only one to heap praise on Olise, 22, at the end. The Brentford manager Thomas Frank extended an admiring handshake and an affectionate tap on the chest, clearly impressed by what he had seen — he had, after all, sought to bring in Olise before the forward’s move from Reading to Palace in the summer of 2021.
He has contributed five goals from his last eight games, and four in four alongside an assist. He has now scored more goals since starting his first match of the season in the loss at Luton in late November than he did in his previous 64 appearances for Palace.
Hodgson has not been afraid to reference the absence of his team’s two most dynamic and creative players through injury while his side have toiled. He had explicitly mentioned “frustration and disappointment” at not being able to work with a full squad in his programme notes for the Brentford game, with Eze and Olise most prominent in his thoughts.
He is well aware of just how crucial they are to his side’s hopes of moving clear of any relegation threat. At Luton, when they had started together for the first time this term, Olise had not been up to speed after a serious hamstring injury.
Against Chelsea in midweek, it had been Eze — hampered by an ankle problem — who had been off the pace when they began alongside each other again at Stamford Bridge. But they rekindled their relationship once more against Brentford, with Olise’s two goals and constant threat posing a serious problem for the away side.
Eze, too, enjoyed a promising resurgence after two below-par performances as he tried to find his feet.
This was another 90 minutes under his belt, coming through unscathed and going some way to regaining that sharpness lost by his second injury of the season. Together, he and Olise took advantage of Brentford’s nervousness. Their combinations spread panic.
Olise regularly exposed the space which opened up in front of him, a void that invited him to drive forward, cut inside and curl a shot at goal. He did that on multiple occasions.
Eze played a more supporting role, pushing up higher in the second half and pulling defenders away from Olise, the pair working in tandem. “Michael Olise’s an incredible player — it’s good to play with players like that on the same wavelength,” Eze said. “We know what we’re capable of. We can create chances. It just hasn’t clicked. It showed today.”
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The England international had contributed to Palace’s equaliser, taking the ball in his stride, setting it up with a second touch and then shooting into the far corner in one fluid motion after an excellent team move.
It was those flashes of attacking brilliance, so absent for long periods this season, that offer Palace hope for what awaits in the new year.
Admittedly, just as they had against Brighton & Hove Albion, Palace endured significant spells of second-half pressure. But with the speed and skill of their two brightest talents, there was always a dangerous outlet.
Hodgson’s front line had clicked at last.
Olise was a constant menace, while Jean-Philippe Mateta held the ball up superbly to help Palace counter. With 18 minutes remaining, their attackers burst forward. Olise did what he had done all afternoon and attacked with purpose before swapping passes with Mateta and laying the ball off for Eze. The resulting shot was saved well by Mark Flekken, but the Selhurst Park crowd showed their appreciation.
With Jordan Ayew departing to play for Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations, Eze and Olise will become even more important and, crucially, will need to maintain the defensive work that will be lost when Ayew is in Ivory Coast. Olise is much improved in that area, becoming increasingly dependable at both ends of the pitch.
There was some concern that Olise might have suffered a recurrence of a hamstring problem in stoppage time at the end of the match, but Hodgson spoke with him in the immediate aftermath and seemed reassured. “He didn’t seem overly concerned,” said the manager. “I spoke to the doc and he wasn’t shaking his head suggesting he needs a scan tomorrow and we might have to fear the worst.
“We won’t know until he gets back into training and we assess him. I don’t think it was a major snapping of the muscle. But, unfortunately, we’re in that period of football life where you’ve played 20 games, playing three games in a week. I’m afraid people are going to pick up muscle injuries.
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“We’ve done OK without (Eze and Olise) as well in games, but it is nice to have them back because they are quality players. Last season, when I came back in March, they were the players who pulled the team through that latter half of the season with the quality of their play.”
These were the players who illuminated Hodgson’s 10-game spell after taking over from Patrick Vieira at the end of last season. The onus is on them even more this time round given there is no Wilfried Zaha to propel the side forward, but, when fit and firing, they provide this team’s spark. Palace do not play again in the Premier League until January 20. Olise will benefit from a period of rest.
It is worth remembering that Chelsea had been desperately close to prising the France Under-21 international away before he signed a new four-year contract in the summer, while Manchester City had strongly considered a move for Eze, who has also since signed new terms at Selhurst Park. The Premier League’s elite clubs are well aware of their class and potential.
Yet if their individual brilliance is obvious, they are even more formidable in tandem.
(Top photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images))