Wolves are woeful as Roberto troops March on at double
“WE’RE top of the league,” sang Brighton fans at the end and although it’s early days, they have a deserved Seagulls’-eyeview of the Premier League.
They also dumped four goals down on Wolves with an accuracy and deadly intent that suggests they are having too much fun to come down soon.
The electrifying – and for Wolves, terrifying – Kaoru Mitoma scored the first before Pervis Estupinan made it 2-0 just after the break.
The devastating running of Julio Enciso then created two quickfire goals for Solly March to put Brighton 4-0 ahead after just 55 minutes.
Wolves pulled a goal back through Hee-chan Hwang, but had Matheus Nunes sent off for a second yellow card late on.
Wolves parachuted in Gary O’neil on the season’s eve, but they could do with a whole SAS regiment.
Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi may have £200million burning a hole in his pocket after recent sales, but the only smoke in his eyes is from a team on fire. He said: “I’m really pleased with the result and the performance. We played very well. Enciso was the best player on the pitch.
“I’m really lucky, I have an incredible squad, the right mix between young and old players.
“We are a very important team, with many big players. My work is to push them more and get better.”
The first half produced only a solitary goal from Mitoma. But what a goal. It was crafted out of nothing as Mitoma shredded Wolves’ defence before sweeping the ball past Jose Sa.
Until that point, both teams
Graham Thomas
had started at a brisk lick and Wolves had actually had the ball in the net, only for Fabio Silva to be denied by an offside flag.
The home side had at least three good opportunities to level things up before the break, but failed to seize any of them.
Wolves needed a good start to the second period, but instead they lapsed inside 40 seconds and fell 2-0 behind as Estupinan fired past Sa after supporting a move that began with a superb pass from Solly March and ended with a deft pass from Mitoma.
Two more goals in four minutes from March left Wolves 4-0 down.
Brighton eased off and Wolves substitute Hwang pulled a goal back but his team-mate Nunes was sent off for a petulant shove on Adam Webster.
It was the 95th minute. The game had gone. Why bother?
Wolves boss O’neil said: “Mateus knows my thoughts; he’s a great kid, I deal with that stuff privately. He was excellent today but we need him available.”
He added: “I think we are very early in the process; we knew there would be a lot of things to fix. There wouldn’t have been a change made if things were going well at the club.’’