WOOD SINKS WOEFUL WOLVES
STRIKER BAGS HAT-TRICK AS CLARETS NEAR SAFETY
THE only saving graces for Wolves were that it could have been a lot worse and their fans were not there to see it.
Molineux legend and record scorer Steve Bull was present – and he could not hide his despair as he put his head in his hands in the directors’ box.
Bull clearly could not stomach the lack of energy and desire in the home side, which was noticeable.
But battling Burnley were the exact opposite and got their reward by racing into a 3-0 halftime lead.
Chris Wood was the hero for the visitors, his hat-trick taking his recent tally to six goals in as many games.
Ashley Westwood added a fourth late on when Wood turned provider as Burnley secured their biggest topflight away win since 1965.
It lifts Sean Dyche’s side to
14th and away from lingering relegation danger.
Wolves have been rocked by the absence of their star striker Raul Jimenez since November after he suffered a fractured skull. But last summer’s big-money buys – Fabio Silva for £35million and Nelson Semedo for £27m – have not improved the side.
And it would be natural for manager Nuno Espirito Santo, linked with Tottenham, to question whether he has taken Wolves as far as they can go.
Wood opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a low finish into the far corner after turning past Conor Coady. The Clarets doubled their lead in the 21st minute after Dwight McNeil was alert enough to nip in and intercept Adama Traore’s lay-off on the edge of his box to Semedo.
McNeil then simply rolled the ball across goal for Wood to tap in his second.
Traore’s frustrations nearly boiled over when he pushed Jack Cork in the face amid a melee after Daniel Podence went down injured.
The Wolves flier escaped with a booking despite VAR reviewing the footage. Wood effectively sealed the win before the break as he completed his first Premier League hat-trick. The striker had a free header inside the sixyard box from McNeil’s corner in the 44th minute.
Burnley wrapped things up when Romain Saiss lost possession and Wood teed up Westwood to lash in from the edge of the box five minutes from time.
WOLVES (3-4-1-2): Patricio 4; Saiss 5, Coady 5, Boly 5; Semedo 2 (Silva 58, 6), Neves 5 (Vitinha 69, 6), Dendoncker 5, Ait-Nouri 3; Podence 5 (Gibbs-White 69, 6); Traore 6, Silva 3.
BURNLEY (4-4-2): Pope 7; Lowton 7, Tarkowski 7, Mee 8, Taylor 7; Brownhill 7, Westwood 7, Cork 7, McNeil 8; Vydra 7 (Rodriguez 73), Wood 9. Goals: Wood 15, 21, 44, Westwood 85.