Brighton 6 (Undav 6 & 66, Gross 13 & 26, Welbeck 39 & 48)
Wolves endured a disastrous afternoon on the south coast as Brighton & Hove Albion put Julen Lopetegui’s side to the sword with a six-goal haul which they fully deserved.
The Spaniard will have been grateful for recent good results, because his afternoon at the AMEX was a painful one, with the Seagulls four up at the break and his side well beaten before they added a further two in the second period. A day to forget for all connected to Wolves.
After the joys of Tuesday night, Wolves were given a reality check at the AMEX as Brighton blew them out of the water in the opening half. The game was effectively over after just 15 minutes, as the Seagulls flew into a two-goal lead against a Wolves side which consistently gave possession away in dangerous areas.
It took the hosts just six minutes to get their first of four first half goals. The attack came down the old gold right and Solly March kept it alive, before Joel Veltman’s low cross was missed by Danny Welbeck and Deniz Undav was on hand to prod underneath Jose Sa.
Matheus Nunes was then at fault for the second goal, giving the ball away inside the Wolves half and allowing Julio Enciso to scamper clear and square for an unmarked Pascal Gross to knock into the top corner first time.
At that point, Wolves at least tested Jason Steele in the Brighton goal, as Pedro Neto found Nunes, but he didn’t catch his effort right and it proved a comfortable save. Sa could only dream of that save though, as he watched Gross clip the ball up for himself and fire into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Goal number four wasn’t far away either. This time Pervis Estupinan was the creator, clipping in a cross for Welbeck, who wanted it more than Maximilian Kilman at the back post and headed past Sa at his near point.
Half-time | Brighton 4-0 Wolves
4-0 at the break didn’t flatter the hosts and it took them just a matter of minutes to continue the scoring spree after the break. Lopetegui made three changes at the break, but one of them Nathan Collins gifted the ball to Welbeck, who curled past Sa from outside of the area straight after the interval.
That set the tone for more of the same after the break, as Brighton ran riot. The next and final goal was completely Wolves’ own doing. Sa played the ball to Nunes, who was surrounded by two Brighton men, he turned into trouble and was robbed, allowing Undav to chip home the sixth.
Billy Gilmour and Estupinan had chances to embarrass Wolves further, while Daniel Podence’s opportunity to get his side on the scoresheet at least was passed up when he ran clean though but shot straight at Steele. The final moments played out with little to note, with the game long lost for Wolves. One to forget.
Full-time | Brighton 6-0 Wolves
Brighton | Steele, Webster, Dunk, March (Mitoma 55), Gross, Welbeck (Buonanotte 55), Enciso (Caicedo 64), Undav (Ayari 79), Gilmour, Estupinan, Veltman (Mac Allister 64).
Unused subs | Sanchez, Colwill, van Hecke, Offiah.
Wolves | Sa, Semedo (Podence 45), Dawson (Hwang 46), Kilman, Bueno (Toti 46), Lemina, Neves, Gomes, Nunes, Neto (Adama 82), Costa (Collins 45).
Unused subs | Bentley, Moutinho, Sarabia, Cunha.
