Brown pounces late to pile frustration on Nuno
An 86th-minute goal from substitute Jacob Brown saw the Championship club defeat buoyant Wolves and book a place in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
But the evening proved one of frustration for home manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who saw his clubrecord signing, teenage debutant Fabio Silva, miss a glorious chance to give his side the lead, and then refused to discuss the absence of Diogo Jota from Wolves’ match-day squad.
Nuno testily declined to give any explanation after the game for his decision about Jota’s involvement, although he did confirm that the Portuguese international had no health or fitness issues.
“No,” he said. “You are going to speculate a lot. He was not on the squad list. Period. He wasn’t available, these are decisions we have to make. We have to prepare the squad, have to know what is the moment of the season. These are our decisions to make.”
On the field, Nuno’s mood had not been helped when Brown, Stoke’s £2 million signing from Barnsley last week, found space in the area, after good work from Steven Fletcher and James Mclean, before unleashing a shot which goalkeeper John Ruddy could only help unconvincingly into his net.
And Wolves’ disappointment at missing out on a home tie with Gillingham was compounded by a miss from Silva, who endured a game he will probably want to forget.
He was caught up in physical battles with Nathan Collins and Bruno Martins Indi, with his yelps carrying across an empty Molineux on more than one occasion. On 76 minutes, the £35.6 million signing from Porto snatched at a chance at the far post and missed the target from six yards.
“Fabio had a couple of good moments in the box, good movements, next time he will try to be more accurate,” said Nuno. “We will try to work on that, those chances can be better finished.”
Stoke manager Michael O’neill is now looking forward to a thirdround tie at home next week. “We didn’t really have anything to lose coming here but the boys handled it really well,” he said.
Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-4-3) Ruddy 6; Boly 6, Coady 6, Saiss 6; Buur 6 (Jimenez 66), Dendoncker 6 (Podence 77), Neves 6, Vinagre 6; Traore 6, Fabio Silva 6, Vitor Ferreira 6 (Neto 59). Subs Rui Patricio (g), Marcal, Podence, Moutinho, Shabani.
Stoke City (5-3-2) Davies 6; Smith 7, Collins 7, Souttar 7, Martins Indi 6, Mcclean 7 (Cousins 90+4); Oakley-boothe 6, Thompson 6, Tymon 6; Gregory 6 (Brown 70), Vokes 6 (Fletcher 64). Subs Noukeu (g), Fox, Batth, Campbell. Booked Martins Indi.
Referee Simon Hooper (Wiltshire).