DOHERTY PAYS TRIBUTE AFTER TRAGEDY
AS Matt Doherty stooped to head in Wolves’ equaliser in front of the Stan Cullis stand, his first instinct was to stand still and pay tribute to a familiar friend. Off came the black armband and Doherty brought it to his lips, kissed it and raised it to the sky on a day that former Wolves striker Benik Afobe had announced his two-year-old daughter Amora had died on Friday. A heartbroken Afobe revealed in a statement how Amora had developed an infection and that complications left doctors unable to help. ‘Matt has a very close relationship with him,’ said boss Nuno Espirito Santo. ‘He knew about it, every team-mate knew about it. We are very sorry and our respects go to Benik and his family to be strong and we wish him all the best. Matt is OK, he is going to visit him now, he is strong and it is a very strong friendship.’ The big frustration for Doherty and Wolves was that they could not get a win to lift the spirits of those inside Molineux, with the biggest attendance at home since 1981. Many were taking their seats when George Baldock lifted his head up wide on the right, floated in a cross and found in-form Blades forward Lys Mousset unmarked at the back post to fire into the bottom corner. Wolves flew forward in search of an equaliser but the final pass continually evaded them. It blighted what was an encouraging recovery after the Mousset opener but soon after the restart, it should have been two when David McGoldrick wasted two glorious opportunities. He fired the first straight at Rui Patricio. The second came after a clever one-two with John Fleck but, again, the chance was wasted and as United boss Chris Wilder turned irritated to his coaches, the momentum swung. Wolves were emboldened and when the ball fell kindly to Raul Jimenez after smart play from Adama Traore, he spotted the late run of Doherty and gave the wing-back the enviable task of nodding in from three yards out. It was fitting that one of Afobe’s closest friends would have the final say, even if it was for one point, rather than three.