Backs to the fore as Wolves soar
GARY O’NEIL had his full backs to thank for his ‘favourite win’ as Wolves boss, the hosts continuing their 39-year unbeaten home record against Fulham in the league and keeping their European hopes alive.
Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo secured three points that take Wolves up to eighth, despite Alex Iwobi’s 98th-minute consolation, although the hosts lost Pedro Neto to injury just before the break. ‘My favourite win,’ said O’Neil. ‘Mentally, for the players to lose the only attacking players we have left and still find a way to respond was unbelievable and I’m delighted. 41 points — equalling last season’s tally already.
‘To win a Premier League game with the numbers available to us takes a massive effort.’ By half-time, it was hard to see how Fulham were not ahead, Harry Wilson missing when oneon-one with Jose Sa, before Tosin Adarabioyo hit the bar from eight yards.
A frustrating half ended in every Wolves fan’s nightmare — Neto limping down the tunnel, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde already off after 11 minutes. O’Neil said of Neto, who missed two months earlier in the season with a hamstring injury: ‘He felt good in training, but devastated for Pedro. Medical don’t think it’s anything like his first one but there will be a scan and we’ll go from there.’
O’Neil was forced to switch to a back three and within seven second-half minutes his side were ahead. Toti Gomes pulled back a deep cross from a free-kick for Ait-Nouri to score from close range. The second was more fortuitous, Semedo’s effort beating Bernd Leno courtesy of a wicked deflection.
‘We had enough chances to be ahead at half-time,’ said Fulham boss Marco Silva. ‘They created almost nothing in the first half, but the reality is the game is 95 (minutes). We were too slow and from that moment we were punished. ‘Take nothing from Wolves, but we lost the game ourselves, this is what is disappointing and frustrating about our performance.’
Iwobi found the net in stoppage time after a concerted late assault on Sa’s goal, but the hosts held on.