Express & Star

Wolves 1 Sheff Wed 0 - match report

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Wolves barely stepped out of second gear as they made it four league wins in a row in some comfort against Sheffield Wednesday at sunny Molineux this afternoon.

Wolves barely stepped out of second gear as they made it four league wins in a row in some comfort against Sheffield Wednesday at sunny Molineux this afternoon.

Bakary Sako's 43rd-minute retaken free kick proved the difference between the sides, but it was ultimately a much easier win for Stale Solbakken's side than the scoreline suggests as Wolves made it three clean sheets in a row in the Championship.

The excellent Kevin Doyle, who was man of the match for the fourth league game in a row, went close twice in a fairly lively first half, as did Sako before his third goal for the club – all of which have been spectacular strikes.

Wolves however rode their luck a little early on in what was something of a slow start.

They survived a penalty shout when it appeared Stephen Ward had tripped Michai Antonio after just 84 seconds.

The referee waved play on and they were never really in any danger from there on.

Like last week against Peterborough, it was a highly controlled performance by Wolves, who looked to keep possession throughout a pretty uneventful second half only memorable for Sylvan Ebanks-Blake snapshot that fizzed narrowly wide.

Solbakken made 11 changes from the side that crashed 6-0 out of the Capital One Cup to Chelsea on Tuesday, but only one from the team that beat Peterborough 2-0 last Saturday.

That change saw Razak Boukari start in place of Slawomir Peszko on the right wing.

But there was a quick switch again between the two as Boukari lasted just 14 minutes of his home debut when he limped off following a tackle.

By then there had been chances at both ends, but Wednesday had the better of them and were unlucky not to have won a penalty after just 84 seconds.

Ward appeared to trip Antonio to send the winger flying just inside the box, but the referee waved play on.

The visitors had another opportunity in the fourth minute as Wolves made an edgy start, but Chris O'Grady fired an angled shot into the sidenetting from inside the area.

Wolves' first opening arrived in the seventh minute when Kevin Doyle flashed a firm drive over the bar from 25 yards after Tongo Doumbia won the ball back and fed him.

But there was another scare for the home side in the 13th minute when O'Grady got free again but fractionally missed Antonio's cross despite a full-length dive to reach the ball.

Sako gave notice of his intentions in the 26th minute when he rifled a tremendous drive a few inches over after a high-speed break.

And within a minute Doyle rolled a low left-footed effort just wide of the far post after cleverly skipping round Jose Semedo and sprinting towards goal.

Sako tried his luck again on 31, this time curling narrowly wide with his unfavoured right foot first time from 25 yards after Peszko's square pass infield.

Wolves were now well on top and Ebanks-Blake won the decisive free kick when he was hauled down by Jermaine Johnson chasing a long ball from the back.

There was a long delay while the referee got the defensive wall back 10 yards, but Sako had other ideas and took it quickly, curling it inches wide.

However he earned a booking for taking the kick too quickly.

But from the retaken free kick, he made no mistake as he lashed a low left-foot drive into the far bottom corner of the net.

Ebanks-Blake lashed a foot wide after Doyle escaped Jermaine Johnson to latch onto Ward's pass before squaring inside.

But that was about the sum of the attacks in a largely uneventful second half during which Wolves appeared happy to sit back and try to keep possession, rather than push for a second goal.

There was a Wolves League debut for former Wednesday loanee Danny Batth deep into injury time for the excellent Doyle as the home side shut up shop.

And Wolves had little trouble in reeling off their third successive shutout in the league to send the majority of the 23,591 crowd home happy.