Wolves 1 (J Gomes 18) Fulham 2 (Sessegnon 1, Muniz 47)
Wolves fell to a narrow defeat to Fulham at Molineux on Tuesday night, as the Old Gold failed to move further clear of relegation trouble in the Premier League.
Ryan Sessegnon’s strike just one minute after kick-off stunned Wolves as they fell behind, before Joao Gomes settled his side into the game with an 18th minute equaliser.
The Old Gold suffered another early setback in the second half as Rodrigo Muniz regained Fulham’s lead two minutes after the restart, and Wolves failed to mount a comeback, failing to respond for a second time on the night.
After a crucial victory away at Bournemouth just three days ago, Vitor Pereira’s side looked to maintain momentum, now into the final third of the season, with a big chance to do so under the lights at Molineux against Fulham. However, that failed to be the case.
Despite victory at Bournemouth on Saturday, Wolves had work to do, but Fulham burst out of the blocks the quickest when Muniz held the ball up inside the Wolves half and laid off to Andreas Pereira who slipped in Sessegnon. Left one-on-one with Jose Sa, he calmly stroked a low effort past the Wolves shot stopper.
Wolves responded with a chance of their own just five minutes later. Matheus Cunha’s corner was cleared only as far as Matt Doherty, he struck goalwards on the half-turn but could only pull his effort wide.
By 15 minutes Wolves were taking control, having registered five shots to Fulham’s one, and should have equalised a minute later. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde did excellently to jink away from Issa Diop and hook a delivery into the box, and Joao Gomes was free at the back post, but cleared the crossbar on the fall.
Gomes would get another chance to equalise just two minutes later, and that he did. Rayan Ait-Nouri’s typical fancy footwork set Bellegarde free down the left flank and his fizzed ball across the box fell to Gomes lurking outside the six-yard-box. The Brazilian set himself and rifled a volley underneath the crossbar to level Wolves.
Fulham fought back with two chances to regain the lead just moments later. First, Pereira’s dinked ball over the top of Wolves’ defence bounced into Adama Traore’s path, and the former Wolves man fired a vicious effort at goal, but Sa stood strong to turn it to safety.
Two minutes later, Santiago Bueno put in a crucial block on Muniz. Fulham worked the ball to the left where Sessegnon arrived and cut the ball back to Muniz, whose powerful effort was blocked by Bueno.
Neither side could dominate the rest of the half, but Wolves continued to test Bernd Leno throughout. The final action of the first 45 minutes came when Cunha beautifully two-stepped past Timothy Castagne before firing an effort at goal, but Leno did well to turn the ball over for a corner.
Half-time | Wolves 1-1 Fulham
Fulham started the second period just as they had the first, regaining the lead within two minutes. Traore played a well-weighted through ball into Muniz’s path, and the striker lifted an effort over the out rushing Sa, putting Wolves behind for a second time in the game.
A familiar story unfolded as Wolves responded to falling behind with improved play and chances to equalise - similar to the first half.
Wolves went close with two chances just shy of the hour mark. First, Gomes did well to outmuscle Traore and win possession, before slipping Cunha through, and despite being surrounded by two Fulham players, Cunha managed to get a wayward shot off that cleared the upright.
Moments later, Wolves’ midfield exchanged passes before picking out Nelson Semedo on the right flank. His delivery was met by an onrushing Cunha, who stabbed a toe at the ball, but his connection proved comfortable for Leno to gather.
By the 70th minute, Fulham were content to sit in a five-back defence, relying on pace in attack to extend their lead. Meanwhile, Wolves grew frustrated as their attacking efforts failed to materialise.
Gomes had a chance to grab his second goal of the game when he connected with Cunha’s cross. The midfielder found himself unmarked inside the penalty area, but he was unable to steer his effort on target.
Despite the home side searching for the fourth goal of the game, it was another former Wolves man who came close late on. Antonee Robinson played a superb through ball to Jimenez, who had only Sa to beat, but the Wolves stopper was well-positioned to deny the Mexican’s effort.
Ait-Nouri came closest to a Wolves equaliser in added time when he had a shot blocked just seconds from the final whistle. Doherty’s flick into the penalty area landed at Ait-Nouri’s feet, and he managed to make room for a shot, but Timothy Castagne was in the right place to deny the effort.
Wolves failed to pose any real threat in injury time, and it was Fulham who ran out of Molineux with all three points.
Full-time | Wolves 1-2 Fulham
Wolves | Sa, Semedo, Doherty, Bueno (Sarabia 77), Toti, Ait-Nouri, Andre (Doyle 77), J. Gomes, Bellegarde (Strand Larsen 64), Munetsi, Cunha.
Unused subs | Johnstone, Traore, Djiga, Lima, Pond, Mane.
Fulham | Leno, Castagne, Diop, Andersen, Cuenca (Bassey 76), Sessegnon (Robinson 71), Lukic (Iwobi 67), Berge, Pereira, Muniz (Raul 71), Traore (Willian 67).
Unused subs | Benda, Reed, Cairney, King.
Referee | Peter Bankes
By Callum Greybanks
