FA Cup: Wolves 6 Shrewsbury Town 1: Strand Larsen hat-trick leads Wolves to comfortable victory

The Norwegian netted early to put Wolves ahead before Jhon Arias quickly made it 2-0.

Salop gave the hosts a brief scare when John Marquis won and dispatched a controversial penalty.

But Larsen latched onto a mistake to score again, before completing his hat-trick not long after the half-time break.

Wolves were firmly in control and scored a late fifth when Rodrigo Gomes marked his return from injury with his third goal of the season, before Tolu Arokodare netted a sixth, as Wolves booked their place in the fourth round.

Analysis

Rob Edwards made five changes to his Wolves starting XI following their midweek draw with Everton, but still named a strong side to take on their League Two opponents.

Sam Johnstone, Matt Doherty, David Moller Wolfe, Andre and Larsen all came into the team, as Jose Sa, Yerson Mosquera, Hugo Bueno, Mateus Mane and Arokodare dropped out.

Of those that were not selected, Sa, was not in the matchday squad and third choice goalkeeper Dan Bentley was given a place on the bench.

As expected R.Gomes made his return from injury and was named on the substitutes. He has been sidelined since the end of October and had surgery on a groin issue.

Former Wolves midfielder Taylor Perry, who came through the club’s academy and played three times for the senior team, lined up for Salop.

Wolves had an early chance when Jackson Tchatchoua charged into the box and cut it back for Hwang Hee-chan, but he made a mess of his shot.

The hosts took the lead in the ninth minute with a well-worked goal. Ladislav Krejci played a lovely ball in behind for Hwang, who made an intelligent run and squared it for Larsen, who delightfully flicked it into the back of the net.

Just two minutes later Wolves added a second to take firm control of the fixture.

A neat one-two between Hwang and Larsen saw the latter feed Arias, who calmly slotted the ball home.

Wolves were incredibly comfortable in the minutes that followed but began to become complacent as they gave the ball away needlessly.

A poor Hwang cross field pass set Shrewsbury on the attack and a clumsy Arias tackle on Marquis saw referee Stephen Martin point to the spot, although replays seemed to show it was just outside the box.

The Shrewsbury striker picked himself off the turf to send Johnstone the wrong way with the penalty.

Wolves regained some control and had two big chances to score a third. 

The first came when an excellent Hwang pass set up Joao Gomes, who delivered a poor shot, but Larsen almost met it at the far post for a tap-in.

Moments later, Tchatchoua crossed and Krejci met it with a volley, but it clipped the outside of the post.

Wolves did get their third before half-time when Salop goalkeeper Elyh Harrison passed it straight to Larsen and the striker rolled the ball into the net from around 35 yards.

The Norwegian striker had an early second half chance for his hat-trick when he met a Tchatchoua cross but headed just over the bar.

Shrewsbury had an opening when Iwan Morgan crossed low, but Wolves cleared the danger.

The visitors had a golden chance when a cross fell to Sam Clucas at the far post, but Santi Bueno cleared his shot off the line.

Moments later, Wolves scored a fourth as Larsen completed his hat-trick. Arias played a lovely ball through for the forward, who finished with ease.

Following the goal, Wolves brought on Mane and R.Gomes - the latter making his return from injury.

Larsen somehow did not score his fourth and Wolves’ fifth when he met a sublime Mane cross, but his close range header was superbly saved by Harrison.

Mane almost converted when he unleashed a powerful low effort, but Harrison was equal to it.

Arias then had a shot saved and as Wolfe put the rebound across goal, Arokodare missed a sitter as the ball went through his legs.

Wolves finally got their fifth when Fer Lopez took aim from distance and hit the post, but Arokodare did well to keep it alive and feed R.Gomes for a simple finish.

Wolves were not done there though, as Arokodare latched onto a Wolfe cross to add a late sixth and cap off a dominant Wolves win.

Key Moments

GOAL 9 Larsen flicks Wolves into an early lead

GOAL 11 Arias calmly finishes to make it 2-0

GOAL 26 Marquis gets a goal back for Salop from the penalty spot

GOAL 41 Larsen latches into a mistake to make it 3-1

GOAL 58 Larsen completes his hat-trick with a fine finish

GOAL 86 R.Gomes adds some shine with Wolves’ fifth

GOAL 92 Arokodare scores the sixth

Teams

Wolves: Johnstone, Tchatchoua (R.Gomes, 60), Doherty, S.Bueno, Krejci, Wolfe, Andre, J.Gomes (Mane, 60), Arias (Lima, 84), Hwang (Lopez, 74), Larsen (Arokodare, 74).

Subs not used: Bentley, Mosquera, H.Bueno, Chirewa.

Shrewsbury: Harrison, Hoole, Anderson, Boyle, Clucas, Ruffels (Loughran, 74), Perry, McDermott, Kabia, Morgan (Ogunsuyi, 74), Marquis.

Subs not used: Brook, Benning, England, Gray, Aneke, Lloyd, Stewart.