Wolves 2 (Ait-Nouri 52, Cairney OG 67) Fulham 1 (Iwobi 90+9)
Wolves made light of their injury crisis, thanks in large part to full-backs Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo, to beat Fulham at Molineux.
Gary O’Neil’s already depleted squad lost Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Pedro Neto to injury in the opening half, but those left out on the pitch rallied and got their reward when Toti’s cut back was slammed into the roof of the net by Ait-Nouri.
The result was then put beyond doubt when Nathan Fraser’s cross fell into the path of Gomes, who had the awareness to back heel for Semedo, and his effort took a significant deflection before nestling into the back of the net to make it three Molineux wins on the spin for the Old Gold, despite Alex Iwobi's late consolation.
Operating with a much-changed system to the one more familiar this season, Saturday was an opportunity to learn about his group for O’Neil and he was grateful for the early save from Jose Sa, tipping Andreas Pereira’s effort around the post, while at the other end, Nathan Fraser, starting for the first time, played in Neto who dragged an effort wide of the near post.
The bigger of the early chances fell to the Cottagers, who sent Harry Wilson clean through, but the Welshman opted for the outside of his left foot and shot wide of Sa’s post. Rodrigo Muniz then shot straight at Sa, while Ait-Nouri exchanged passes with Mario Lemina inside the Fulham box, but he couldn’t squeeze his effort beyond Bernd Leno.
However, it was Fulham edging proceedings overall and Wolves were let off the hook when Harrison Reed’s low ball found Tosin Adarabioyo at the back post but, unopposed, he shot against the top of the crossbar.
The half ended on a disappointing note however, at Neto, trying to get past Antonee Robinson, pulled up with a hamstring injury. It was the sight nobody with a Wolves connection wanted to see, particularly with Matheus Cunha and Hee Chan Hwang out with similar injuries, and he cut a frustrated figure before being replaced by Toti.
Half-time | Wolves 0-0 Fulham
Following Neto’s early exit, a rally job was needed and the Molineux crowd, particularly the South Bank, did their bit from the off in the second half. They watched on as Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes couldn’t get a shot away, but they were signs Wolves were upping the ante.
Then, when Reed clattered into Lemina in the middle of the park, the opportunity was coming. Pablo Sarabia’s clipped free-kick was met by Calvin Bassey but with no conviction and the loose ball fell to Toti, who squared for Ait-Nouri to rifle into the roof of the net with his right foot.
Wolves kept on the front foot too, and Lemina, operating in a more attacking role since Tommy Doyle replaced Bellegarde, slipped in Fraser, but Leno shot off his line to save. From the following corner, Maximilian Kilman headed over Sarabia’s delivery.
However, that second goal was coming soon enough. Gomes did brilliantly down the left to slip in Fraser and the attacker had the awareness to cut back, via a deflection for the Brazilian, whose back heel was perfect for Semedo, and the Portuguese’s side-footed effort took a huge deflection off Tom Cairney and nestled beyond Leno to double Wolves’ lead.
Fulham did rally, however, and Sa stuck out a strong hand to keep out Joao Palhinha’s effort, before Kilman stood on the line, headed Muniz’s follow up effort off the line. The Wolves stopper then produced another fine stop to keep out a powerful drive from Adama Traore on his return to Molineux.
The win could have even more gloss in added too, but when Ait-Nouri sent Lemina through, he curled his effort just wide. However, as the full-time whistle went, following Alex Iwobi's late consolation, Molineux celebrated another big win for the Old Gold.
Full-time | Wolves 2-1 Fulham
Wolves | Sa, Semedo, S Bueno, Kilman, Ait-Nouri, M Lemina, Gomes, Bellegarde (Doyle 11), Sarabia, Neto (Toti 45), Fraser (Doherty 77).
Unused subs | Bentley, Traore, N Lemina, H Bueno, Chirewa, Chiwome.
Fulham | Leno, Castagne (Broja 80), Adarabioyo, Bassey, Robinson, Reed (Cairney 61), Lukic (Palhinha 70), Pereira (Willian 62), Wilson (Traore 70), Iwobi, Muniz.
Unused subs | Rodak, Tete, Ream, Decordova-Reid.
