Wolves 1 (Cunha 32) Nottingham Forest 1 (Toffolo 14)
Matheus Cunha’s third goal in four matches saw Wolves come from behind to earn a point in a fairly forgettable 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at Molineux.
The visitors led on 14 minutes after Harry Toffolo punished poor Wolves defending by heading in at the back post, but the hosts responded before the break when Pablo Sarabia laid off for Cunha to roll home the equaliser.
Gary O’Neil’s side struggled to find the energy and intensity to take the game to Forest from that point, creating little in the way of chances, while Toffolo could have won it when heading over from inside the six yard box, but it ended all square – four points from six at Molineux this week for the Old Gold.
Like on Tuesday, the contest took a while to get going, but on this occasion, it was the visitors who took the initiative. Hugo Bueno and Toti didn’t deal with the ball inside their own half and Forest were able to work an opening for Neco Williams to whip in a cross, and at the back post Toffolo wanted the ball more than Nelson Semedo, climbing highest to head past Jose Sa, despite Craig Dawson’s best efforts on the line.
Wolves had been punished but had a long time to recover. Hee Chan Hwang threatened on 25 minutes when Toti’s cross was headed into the air by a Forest man, and he headed over at the near post. Cunha then tried his luck, curling into the hands of Matt Turner from a Joao Gomes cross, as Wolves began to up the intensity.
The striker is really finding his feet in the Premier League now and soon after had brought his side back level with a fifth goal of the season. Mario Lemina’s pinpoint through ball for Pablo Sarabia, who’d broken the Forest lines, got the action in motion, and the Spaniard’s cut back was perfect for the onrushing Cunha to slot into the corner for 1-1.
Although Wolves dominated the half from there, Forest should have retaken the lead in stoppage time. Maximilian Kilman, usually so competent on the ball, was robbed by Cheikhou Kouyate and the Forest man was in, but Sa came to Wolves’ rescue, saving with his feet just before the break.
Half-time | Wolves 1-1 Nottingham Forest
The contest was finely poised at the break, and Forest’s early attempts to regain the initiative saw Anthony Elanga crash an effort off the crossbar, only to see the offside flag would have ruled out the effort regardless.
Forest were better in the second half and will feel they should have been ahead when Toffolo headed over a dangerous cross from inside the six yard box. As for Wolves, Boubacar Traore has replaced the injured Mario Lemina and the Brazilian headed a cross from the new arrival straight at Turner.
Cunha was involved in everything Wolves were doing and when he won the ball back high up the pitch, he got two shots away, first testing Turner with a low drive, before his rebound was blocked by a flurry of blue and pink shirts back on the Forest line.
That was it for chances. Neither side could really force the issue further, with perhaps the recent busy schedule getting too much for O’Neil’s side, who had to make do with a point.
Full-time | Wolves 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Wolves | Sa, Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Toti, H Bueno (Doherty 69), Lemina (Traore 61), Gomes, Sarabia (Bellegarde 68), Hwang, Cunha (Kalajdzic 90).
Unused subs | Bentley, S Bueno, Silva, Doyle, Chirewa.
Nottingham Forest | Turner, Mangala, Williams, Kouyate (Danilo 63), Gibbs-White, Toffolo, Niakhate, Elanga (Wood 84), Boly, Murillo (Felipe 78).
Unused subs | Vlachodimos, Sangare, Hudson-Odoi, Dominguez, Origi, Aina.
