Wolves Fans' Verdict v Ipswich: A huge relegation battle win

Post-match, even Kieran McKenna came as close to conceding as was possible without actually uttering the word. It’s settled; he accepts it and we know it and it comes as a big relief. 

Wolves maintained their composure and were demonstrably the better team despite an uncertain first-half spell when Ipswich chased and harried and temporarily hustled us out of our stride. Portman Road was emotionally charged, conscious that this was virtually the last opportunity for their team. 

And for a long period, you wondered if fate was determined to conspire against us. Toti denied almost on the goal-line, Palmer missing a back-pass and surviving by a whisker and the magnificent Gomes rattling the woodwork. 

Our superiority was clearly evident but the end product was frustratingly elusive. A couple of positive substitutions revitalised us and Sarabia and Strand Larsen worked perfectly in tandem with each providing the other with their goalscoring opportunities. Strand Larsen’s acrobatic control and pass to set up the equaliser displayed a degree of quality that would have been beyond his capabilities just a few months ago. His confidence is sky high and it was highly significant that Vitor Pereira identified the support offered by Munetsi as the principal reason for Larsen’s massive upsurge in fortune. 

The starting selection up front against Tottenham next week will be interesting to say the least. We finished this game comfortably on the front foot, deserved winners and a wholly different outfit in comparison to the disorganised rabble who catastrophically surrendered to Ipswich back in December. Pereira oozed confidence from day one; many of us were sceptical but he has delivered absolutely superbly.

Clive Smith

Our 12 point lead on Tuesday might well have been only six by Saturday night, but instead, we restored the 12  points with another happy away day.

It was disappointing to trail in the first half but we showed enough intent and endeavour to suggest we could recover.

We had plenty of corners, most were promising too, while our midfield dynamic duo were looking to run the show. Better decisions from Bellegarde and Larsen might well have seen us leading, although we nearly had our funniest goal of the season. A routine back pass was missed and then scraped off the line by the keepers fingertips. An indirect free-kick with 11 players lined up on the line hardly seemed a fitting punishment for a foul denying a goal.

After the interval we stepped up a gear.

Despite Ipswich getting men behind the ball we found ways to pass through them and put in a large number of crosses. Munetsi's tireless energy and Gomes playing further forward meant we had more numbers than usual in the final third.

Vitor Pereira was having the afternoon off up in the stands but may have had some input regarding the substitutions. Rodrigo and Sarabia brought extra impetus down the right side from the hour onwards.

It's not often we say it, but it looked like we would score at any moment. Sarabia and Larsen twice linked up together which resulted in two goals. We saw the game out with minimal fuss from then on.

It is not very often you can award a player 10/10 unless he gets a hat-trick or similar. However MOTM Gomes was outstanding and a 9.7. Now he has started to play more in the final third his value has gone up another notch. Three to four shots is not something we are used to seeing. He ticked all the boxes.

There was so many good things about our performance. Andre, Larsen (with an assist, a goal, a huge smile) is becoming our fox in the box. Our central defence was strong, especially in the air. Sarabia deserves credit for his cameo performance too - far from downing tools or sulking about his lack of game time, he too came up with a goal an assist and a good work rate.

With Cunha available next week to improve our bench... 17th has never looked this good all season.

Adam Virgo

Sweet revenge from what happened in the reverse fixture and it feels so good to now be 12 points clear of relegation and looking up rather than down for once this season.

The first half I didn’t think either side were that good, they took their chance and got the lead from it but we had a couple of chances ourselves which we should have done better with.

In the second half we were incredible and dominated Ipswich. Joao Gomes, Andre and Agbadou were superb throughout, Sarabia was fantastic when he came on and Rodrigo Gomes was also effective. Strand Larsen continuing his scoring form as well which caused absolute scenes in the away end.

Vitor Pereira has done absolute wonders with this team, especially in recent weeks. We look like a proper team who can show quality at both ends of the pitch when needed. To say we haven’t had Cunha for four games as well and came out of it with three wins and a draw is very impressive considering how often he’s carried us this season.

It would be nice to continue this run we’re on and maybe finish a little bit higher but considering where we were when Vitor took over, I think all of us would be absolutely fine with 17th position.