Express & Star

Wolves 4 Leeds United 1 – player ratings

Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers rates the players after Leeds are brushed aside with a 4-1 win at Molineux.

Published

John Ruddy

Tested a few times in the first half and came up with a couple of strong saves. Quieter after the break, helpless for the goal, claimed all that came his way. 7/10

Ryan Bennett

Another no-nonsense display from the composed centre half who, shock horror, was actually on the pitch when Wolves conceded a goal. Shown good consistency during his past four performances. 7/10

Conor Coady

The pick of Wolves' back three. Senses danger like Clark Kent and his distribution was a step up on recent games. 8/10

Willy Boly

Tried to overplay at times in the first half – it's as if the whole Championship thing is just too easy for Boly. Defensively he was sound. 7/10

Matt Doherty

A regulation performance from the Irishman who kept things simple in defence and provided an assist for the second goal when rampaging down the right. Otherwise he had a fairly quiet evening. Has anyone worked harder than him throughout the opening months of the season? He just keeps on going. 7/10

Romain Saiss

A completely different player to last season. His concentration levels have improved, he rarely concedes possession and here he got forward to good effect too, especially when finding Bonatini with a divine pass into the box before the Brazilian was fouled. 8/10

Ruben Neves

A tidy 80 minutes from the Portuguese maestro who generally kept things simple and offered good protection to the back three/five. 7/10

Barry Douglas

A second goal for Wolves and what a hit it was – gets great pace on that ball but keeps it low too, making it so hard to defend against. That's one goal and three assists in his past three appearances and Douglas is near the top of the assist league with six in total. Let Alioski get the wrong side of him for Leeds' goal. 7/10

Ivan Cavaleiro

When he's in the mood there are few better in the division than Cavaleiro and he really turned it on in the first half. One sublimely taken goal when he left the Leeds defender seeing stars with a naughty turn and finish from the edge of the box. Almost scored a few minutes later and he also laid on a good chance for Bonatini. With Costa starting to make an impact from the bench Cavaleiro needs to keep performing – and the stiff competition will only benefit the team if it makes him play like this. 8/10

Leo Bonatini

A typically unselfish and intelligent team performance from Bonatini whose link-up play was tremendously effective at times. Played a part in three goals – released Doherty for the second, headed on to Jota for the third and won the penalty for the fourth. 8/10

Diogo Jota

Produced a chip that Harry Ramsden would have been proud of for the third goal. But even more impressive was when he raced back into his own half to win back possession, then headed for the Leeds half and was duly wiped out by Ronaldo Vieira for the Leeds man's second booking. For a flair player Jota's work rate is deeply impressive which makes such a difference, defending from the front and lightening the load for the rest of the team. 7/10

Substitutes

Helder Costa (for Cavaleiro, 69)

He's back. A first goal since April from the penalty spot (interestingly he took it over Bonatini) and the fact the subbed Cavaleiro and Roderick Miranda ran over to the South Bank to celebrate with him shows what it meant to Costa, who's endured a very frustrating few months. His Fred Astaire footwork when dancing down the touchline and leaving a Leeds player on his backside produced a kind of 'ohhhhh' that's rarely heard at Molineux. 7/10

Jack Price (for Neves, 80)

Good to see him get a run out. The game was over at this point and Price found space to move the ball around. 6/10

Alfred N'Diaye (for Saiss, 80)

He'll be frustrated with his lack of game time but Saiss' form means he can't really argue. Always a good option for the latter stages of a game, though, whatever the scoreline. 6/10

Subs not used: Norris, Batth, Miranda, Enobakhare.