Wolves 2 Brentford 0 – Report

Buoyed by the win over Chelsea last week, Wolves started well at Molineux and eventually took the lead when Diego Costa notched his first goal for the club.

Brentford had their chances but were unable to convert, before Hwang Hee-chan scored his second goal in three games to secure all three points.

Analysis

Julen Lopetegui made one change to his side that beat Chelsea last time out, and stuck with the 4-4-2 formation.

Pablo Sarabia came into the side for his first start in six weeks, as Daniel Podence dropped to the bench.

There were no changes to the squad, meaning Rayan Ait-Nouri, Boubacar Traore and Raul Jimenez still missed out. Ruben Neves and Jonny Castro Otto were absent due to suspension.

Thomas Frank also made one change to his Brentford side, and switched to a 4-3-3 formation.

Injury to Pontus Jansson saw him miss out, as forward Bryan Mbeumo came in.

The first chance of the game fell to Mario Lemina after less than three minutes. The ball fell for the midfielder on the edge of the box and his curled effort was tipped over the crossbar by goalkeeper David Raya.

Wolves made a solid start to the game and had another huge chance, where they should have scored. Costa and Matheus Cunha combined, to see the latter racing into the box. He should have squared to Joao Gomes for a tap-in, but instead shot and saw his effort saved.

Brentford were still dangerous, however, and had a good chance when they won the first header from a long throw-in. The ball fell to Ivan Toney from close range, but he made a mess of his effort. Toney later had an effort blocked by Max Kilman.

In a back-and-forth battle, Costa had a shot saved, before Brentford went down the other end and should have scored. Toney's effort was deflected and Mbeumo beat Jose Sa to the ball, but lifted it over the crossbar from only a couple yards.

In the end, it was Wolves that struck first as Costa scored his first goal for the club. The striker started a superb counter-attack and found Toti Gomes out wide. The left-back crossed and found Costa, who was lucky with a poor first touch, before his second touch saw the ball rifle into the bottom corner.

Wolves managed to keep their 1-0 lead going into the break.

The first chance of the second half fell for Brentford, when Mbeumo put in a dangerous low cross. With Toney lurking, Sa made a clearance with his feet.

At the other end, another nice Wolves move saw Matheus Nunes find Costa, who then had his shot saved from a tight angle.

Wolves should have had a penalty when Toti was taken out by Raya in the box, but controversy struck once again. The defender did well to beat the goalkeeper to the ball for a stonewall spot-kick, but referee Paul Tierney did not award the penalty and VAR did not overturn it.

After that moment, the visitors took control of the contest as Wolves sat back and defended. Craig Dawson came to his side's rescue when he made a huge block from a Christian Norgaard shot, after Sa had come for the ball but dropped it and handed a huge chance to Brentford.

In the 69th minute, Wolves then extended their lead. A magnificent run by Nunes down the left saw him dance beyond a handful of Brentford players, before his cross was diverted into the path of Hwang, who tapped home from close range.

Sa made a good save to deny a dangerous header as Wolves looked after possession well and managed the game in the final minutes.

Mbeumo looked to break forward but Kilman did superbly well to match him for pace and make a vital block in the closing stages.

Wolves saw out the victory and clean sheet, to take another huge step to surviving relegation this season.

Key Moments

GOAL 27 Costa puts Wolves ahead

GOAL 69 Hwang strikes to make it 2-0

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Dawson, Kilman, Toti, Nunes, Gomes (Moutinho, 73), Lemina (Bueno, 89), Sarabia (Hwang, 63), Cunha (Neto, 89), Costa (Adama, 73).

Subs not used: Bentley, Collins, Hodge, Podence.

Brentford: Raya, Hickey (Baptiste, 73), Pinnock, Mee, Henry (Ghoddos, 73), Norgaard, Jensen (Janelt, 61), Dasilva (Damsgaard, 61), Mbeumo, Schade (Wissa, 61), Toney.

Subs not used: Strakosha, Zanka, Roerslev, Onyeka.