LONDON: Eddie Nketiah scored twice on Crystal Palace’s party night as they celebrated their FA Cup triumph in style with a 4-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Palace’s last home game of the season came three days after they beat Manchester City at Wembley to claim the first major silverware in the south London club’s history and there were euphoric scenes as they hit back to take the three points.
The carnival atmosphere was interrupted briefly when Wolves took the lead through Emmanuel Agbadou’s 24th-minute header but Selhurst Park was really rocking when Nketiah struck twice in the space of five minutes before halftime.
Ben Chilwell’s free kick deflected off of Agbadou’s head to make it 3-1 in the 50th minute and the noise in the stadium barely diminished when Wolves reduced the deficit with a glancing header from Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Twelfth-placed Palace, who made six changes to the side that started against City, brought on Cup final goal hero Eberechi Eze in the 81st minute and he put the icing on the cake with a clinical angled finish after a jinking run.
Oliver Glasner’s side have 52 points, the highest total Palace have collected in the Premier League, and they will end a momentous season at champions Liverpool on Sunday.
After the historic events of Saturday it looked like Palace might be suffering an FA Cup hangover when Agbadou’s header from a corner just about crossed the line.
Nketiah came off the bench at Wembley and had been on the fringes at Palace but he was given a start and took full advantage to score his first league goals for three months.
Three minutes after Palace fell behind, former Arsenal forward Nketiah received a cut back from Romain Esse and fired a shot past Wolves keeper Dan Bentley who could gave done better.
Nketiah was at it again soon after, guiding in a low cross by Ismaila Sarr for his 50th senior career goal.
“We’re buzzing, we’re happy and it’s a massive day for us. Our manager was keen to keep it going and keep the celebrations going. Everyone was firing and we got the win,” Nketiah said.
“The unity between the fans and the players is amazing and it will be amazing to have European nights here.”
It was a memorable night for Palace’s long-serving defender Joel Ward who wore the captain’s armband in his last appearance for the club after a 13-year stint.
Palace’s FA Cup win means they will play in next season’s Europa League.

DUBAi: Beginning on Wednesday, New York and Indiana will meet in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoffs for a second straight season as they continue to put a modern twist on a classic NBA rivalry.

This season, they face each other in the conference final; last year, the Pacers defeated the Knicks in seven games at the semi-final stage, rallying from series deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 along the way.

The drama was reminiscent of matchups from a generation ago, when the teams faced each other in the playoffs six times in the space of eight years between 1993 and 2000. During that time Patrick Ewing of the Knicks and Reggie Miller of the Pacers went head-to-head in one thriller after another, helping to define a decade of NBA competition.

• Opportunity knocks: The most recent appearances by the teams in the NBA Finals came 26 years ago for New York and 25 years ago for Indiana. In both cases, one of them beat the other in the conference finals: In 1999, the Knicks defeated the Pacers during a historic run to the Finals as No. 8 seeds.

The following season, Indiana got the better of New York to reach the championship showdown for the first (and still the only) time in franchise history.

The Knicks’ appearance in the conference finals this year is their first since that series defeat by the Pacers in 2000.

• Marquee matchup: Two-time NBA All-Stars Jalen Brunson of New York and Tyrese Haliburton of Indiana will square off in a battle of ascendant point guards who are at their best in the biggest moments.

Brunson’s barrage of late-game buckets and Haliburton’s pair of game-winning shots have been key features of the 2025 playoffs so far. Both players, who helped jump-start their respective franchises upon arrival a few years ago, are now just a step away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time.

• Winning ways: After a sluggish 10-15 start to the season, the Pacers have been dominant over the past five months, with a 40-17 finish to the regular season, and five-game playoff-series victories over the 2020-21 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks and the 64-win, top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.

A relentlessly fast-paced offense, much-improved defense and impressive depth have helped Indiana become the first team ranked No. 4 seed or lower to advance to the conference finals in back-to-back seasons under the current playoff format, which has been in place since 1984.

With almost the same team rotation as they had last season, under the guidance of championship-winning head coach Rick Carlisle, the Pacers have perfected their distinctive style of play.

• Step forward: After back-to-back Eastern Conference semi-finals appearances in the previous two seasons, the Knicks have taken the next step by reaching the finals for the first time in 25 years. They did so with a retooled roster after acquiring Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, who joined Brunson, O.G. Anunoby and Josh Hart in a superb starting lineup.

A 4-2 series victory over defending NBA champions the Boston Celtics in the semi-finals has given New York a chance to avenge last season’s playoff defeat by Indiana.

• Snappy comebacks: Both Indiana and New York have shown strong resolve this season by repeatedly erasing big deficits to win playoff games. In the first two rounds, the Pacers won three games in which they trailed by 19 points or more, making them the first team to record at least three 19-point playoff comebacks in a single season since 1998.

The Knicks, meanwhile, rallied from a 20-point deficit in each of their first two games against the Celtics, and a 14-point deficit on the way to another victory.

Clearly, no lead is safe against these two resilient teams.

• Halfway home: Eight more victories would give the Pacers their first-ever NBA championship appearance, and the Knicks their first in 52 years.

Indiana won three ABA championships before joining the NBA in 1976. New York claimed their two NBA championships in 1970 and 1973.

• Friendly foes: The head-to-head matchup between Pascal Siakam of Indiana and New York’s Anunoby, standout forwards and former longtime teammates, could go a long way in determining the series winner.

The two spent seven seasons together with the Toronto Raptors, helped the franchise win the 2019 NBA championship before both were traded in the middle of last season. Siakam earned his third NBA All-Star selection this season, and Anunoby has had his best scoring season to complement his stellar defense.

• Talk of the Towns: In back-to-back seasons, Karl-Anthony Towns has helped two franchises end decades-long droughts without a conference finals appearance: the Minnesota Timberwolves last season (for the first time in 20 years) and the Knicks this season.

With his first NBA Finals in sight, the five-time NBA All-Star will take on another highly skilled big man, Indiana’s Myles Turner, who is also eyeing his first NBA Finals appearance as he completes his 10th season with the Pacers.