Express & Star

Wolves 3 Bristol City 2 - Report and pictures

Wolves came from behind to beat Bristol City and win their first game at Molineux for three months.[gallery]

Published

Ivan Cavaleiro's late penalty completed a stunning comeback at a raucous Molineux.

Wolves took an early lead through David Edwards' header but were behind at half time when poor defending allowed Tammy Abraham and Aden Flint to score.

Helder Costa's magnificent volley drew Wolves level and then Cavaleiro third goal in four games put Wolves ahead with five minutes left.

Bristol City thought they'd equalised in the last minute of stoppage time but a header was cleared off the line by first Matt Doherty and then Richard Stearman. The visitors believed it was in - and boss Lee Johnson stormed onto the pitch to argue with the referee while Wolves celebrated.

Analysis

There's never a dull moment with Wolves is there.

Even under the so-called dour Scot Paul Lambert, Wolves can't fail to be a thrillingly entertaining club to watch, on and off the field.

That's 13 goals in two matches at Molineux. And a sorely-needed victory too - Wolves' first at home since September.

Successive victories on the bounce have propelled them up the table to 15th, some eight points clear of relegation, just a couple of weeks after it looked for all the world that they were in a relegation dogfight.

Those fears haven't been eradicated completely of course, but if Wolves continue to show this fighting spirit - coupled with some Portuguese magic in the former of Helder Costa and Ivan Cavaleiro, who were again excellent here - they won't be anywhere near the bottom three.

Shoddy defending had undone an impressive first 30 minutes in which Wolves looked in control. Either side of half time they were depressingly fragile at the back yet again.

But they weathered the storm, barged their way in front and just about saw out four minutes of added time.

Unsurprisingly, Paul Lambert stuck with the same XI that had convincingly beaten Nottingham Forest 2-0 last weekend.

There was one change on the bench though where Joe Mason returned after a two-month injury absence to replace Romain Saiss who dropped out of the squad.

Wolves started in confident mood, picking up where they left off at the City Ground, and were in front inside three minutes when David Edwards notched his sixth goal of the season, flicking a corner from the man he's tied with on six, Helder Costa, into the net.

For the opening half an hour Wolves were by far the better team.

They played with intensity, winning the ball back with impressive regularity, while they moved the ball around briskly in midfield with Jack Price in fine form.

Richard Stearman was clearly enjoying himself, regaling the Stearman of 2014/15 when bombing forward and even treating the crowd to a few skills and turns.

Up front Helder Costa, Bright Enobakhare and Ivan Cavaleiro, as they had at Forest, all looked to run at the opposition and take players on.

Cavaleiro was doing it for fun, albeit often taking one touch too many, but he was the player looking most capable of providing something special.

Wolves were looking comfortable - but defensive frailties soon reared their ugly head and City scored twice in just six minutes to stun the hosts before half time.

Tammy Abraham

On 38 minutes they equalised. A ball forward reached dangerman Tammy Abraham - his touch took him past a wrong-footed Batth and then the striker lashed past Carl Ikeme with a good finish.

Wolves were shellshocked. But before half time, despite controlling much of the first half, they were behind.

A corner from the left reached who got the better of Richard Stearman and had the simple task of heading into the net from a few yards out.

Lambert's team were harshly booed off at half time, but you could hardly blame the fans who have grown all too familiar with defensive capitulations. Indeed, this was the fifth time in six matches that Wolves had conceded at least twice at Molineux.

With their confidence not restored by the time the teams kicked off again, Wolves began the second half on the back foot and were fortunate not to fall further behind.

Stearman got in a crucial block to deny Abraham and there were a couple of heart-in-mouth moments from corners, with Wolves miserably failing to get many of the basics right, not least talking to each other.

But Wolves survived - and just before the hour they were back level thanks to a very special goal from a special player. Costa's 12-yard volley from Conor Coady's cross was one to take the breath away - and it galvanised Wolves.

They looked so dangerous going forward when in full flow, but at the back were so brittle and fragile. Abraham was a constant threat and spurned a number of half chances.

But Lambert went for it, sending on two strikers in Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Joe Mason, who had worked so well in tandem at the start of the season - and within seconds they almost combined to devastating effect when Mason's goalbound shot from Bodvarsson's low cross was blocked.

Edwards then headed just over with a repeat of the corner that brought him his goal.

It was all about who scored next - and fortunately for Wolves it was them. Mason's flick was handled by Flint in the box - Cavaleiro stepped up and beat Fielding with a brilliant penalty into the corner.

There were a couple of nervous moments - this wouldn't be Wolves if there weren't.

And with the final kick of the match it looked like they'd blown in, but Matt Doherty and Richard Stearman's goalline clearance saved them, not that City boss Lee Johnson agreed as he stormed onto the pitch to confront the referee and his assistant at full time.

Yep, never a dull moment.

Key moments

3 - GOAL - Helder Costa's inswinging corner is met by David Edwards at the near post and he flicks a header past Frank Fielding.

20 - Ivan Cavaleiro skips inside and forces a good save from Fielding - the ball falls to Edwards who should score but scuffs his rebound at the keeper from six yards.

38 - GOAL - A ball forward reaches Tammy Abraham, his touch takes him past a wrong-footed Batth and then the striker lashes past Carl Ikeme with a good finish.

44 - GOAL - A corner from the left reaches Aden Flint who gets the better of Richard Stearman and has the simple task of heading into the net from a few yards out.

45 - Matt Doherty tests Fielding with a decent shot from 20 yards which the keeper pushes wide.

51 - Excellent block from Stearman as Abraham breaks into the box again.

54 - Successive Bristol City corners cause no end of problems for Wolves, with their hesitation and a lack of communication not helping matters. But Wolves survive.

58 - GOAL - A absolutely stunning goal brings Wolves level. Conor Coady gets to the byline and crosses deep - Costa meets it with a thunderous first-time left-footed volley from 12 yards that whistles past Fielding.

79 - Substitutes Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Joe Mason almost combine to put Wolves ahead just seconds after coming on. Bodvarsson's low cross is turned goalwards by Mason but it's crucially blocked by Flint.

79 - And now Edwards almost recreates his goal, flicking Costa's corner goalwards at the near post, but this time Fielding finger-tips over the bar.

85 - GOAL - Mason's flick is handled by Flint in the box. Cavaleiro steps up and sends a brilliant penalty into the top corner past Fielding's despairing dive.

95 - A header is brilliantly blocked on the line by Matt Doherty and then Richard Stearman dives in with a magnificent clearance. Every City player thinks it's over the line but the referee blows for full time.

Teams

Wolves (4-2-3-1): Ikeme; Coady, Batth (c), Stearman, Doherty; Price, Edwards; Costa, Enobakhare (Mason, 78), Cavaleiro; Dicko (Bodvarsson, 78). Subs: Burgoyne, Iorfa, Hause, Saville, Ronan.

Goals: Edwards (3), Costa (58), Cavaleiro (85)

Bristol City (>4-4-1-1): Fielding; Matthews (Little, 66), Flint, Magnusson, Bryan; Reid (O'Dowda, 66), Pack (c), Brownhill, Freeman (Wilbraham, 86); Tomlin; Abraham. Subs: Lucic, Engvall, Smith, Paterson.

Goals: Abraham (38), Flint (44)

Attendance: 24,669 (1,483 Bristol City fans)

Referee: James Adcock (Nottinghamshire)

Position in the table

15th (28 points from 23 matches)

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.