Wolves 1 (Dicko 76)
Yeovil Town 0
If Wolves thought they were in for an easy ride to the second round of the Carabao Cup against a Yeovil team that had shipped eight goals at Luton on the opening, they were very much mistaken and it took a late Nouha Dicko header to finally see off the challenge of the battling League Two side.
There were nine changes to the Wolves team that had started against Middlesbrough three days earlier. Just Willy Boly and Leo Bonatini remained whilst there were debuts for Will Norris, Ryan Bennett and Ruben Vinagre.
Yeovil kicked-off attacking the South Bank end with the first real threat coming from Wolves. Boli pushed the ball forwards and Conor Ronan helped it into the path of Jordan Graham whose cross was headed over by Bonatini.
Ronan dragged a long-distance effort wide and, a few moments later, he tried again from virtually the same spot but, again, he was off target.
A driven cross from Vinagre flashed though the goalmouth to the far side where Graham was waiting to return the ball into the middle but it was headed clear by a defender.
The half was midway through when Norris was first tested. Otis Khan cut into the box from the left and although he got plenty of power behind his shot, the keeper saved confidently.
In the 26th minute Danny Batth headed down a Graham cross and Dicko fired over with a shot on the turn.
Wolves then won three corners in succession, all taken by Graham, and from the last of them Boly ran in to power a header narrowly wide.
Town keeper Artur Krysiak needed two attempts to claim the ball when Ronan lifted a free-kick into the box, and just before the break Khan ran to the by-line and hit a low cross but the danger was averted when Vinagre hooked clear.
Half-Time: Wolves 0 Yeovil 0
Inside the first minute of the new half, Vinagre ran in from the left and lashed a cross-shot into the side netting. Then Krysiak just managed to claim the ball as Dicko looked to poke home a low cross with Vinagre again supplying the cross.
From a Graham corner, Dave Edwards attempted a flicked backheel at the near post but his effort is blocked at close quarters.
Graham hit a tantalising free-kick across the face of goal and then Dicko was inches too high with a tremendous shot from the edge of the area.
A double switch in the 69th minute saw Bright Enobakhare and Jota taking over from Edwards and Bonatini.
There was a moment of anguish for the home fans two minutes later as a through ball found Rhys Browne unmarked in the Wolves box. He had his back to goal but he obviously didn’t realise quite how much time he had available as he turned and hurriedly fired wide.
It proved to be a costly miss in more ways than one as Wolves finally made the breakthrough on 76 minutes.
Vinagre had a shot blocked and when the ball found its way back to him, he crossed and Omar Sowunmi headed behind. Graham planted the corner into the six-yard box and there was the predatory Dicko heading into the Yeovil net from point blank range.
Enobakhare had a shot blocked before a tremendous save by Krysiak denied Dicko a second as the striker aimed for the bottom corner.
Jota had a couple of chances that he created for himself in stoppage time but, on each occasion, he was off target with his final shot.
Wolves: Norris, Bennett, Vinagre, Edward (Enobakhare 69), Batth (capt), Boly, Ronan (Saiss 81), Price, Bonatini (Jota 69), Dicko, Graham.
Unused subs: Burgoyne, Doherty, Coady, Miranda.
Town: Krysiak, Alfei, N. Smith, Khan (Olomola 66), C. Smith (Gray 81), Browne, Dickson, Zoko (Surridge 55), Bailey (capt), Sowunmi, James.
Unused subs: Mugabi, Davies, Maddison, Santos.
Referee: R. Lewis.
Attendance: 9,478 (440 away supporters).
Under 23s friendly: Wolves 1 (Samuels) Barnsley 2
8th August 2017
