Diego Costa scored his first goal for the club to help Wolves produce one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. The former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid striker, who arrived at Molineux as a surprise in September, had an immediate impact, shooting home after a fortuitous pass came to him off Christian Norgaard’s outstretched foot (27). It was his first Premier League goal since scoring for Chelsea against Middlesbrough in May 2017. Indeed, the five-year, 342-day gap between goals is the longest in the league since Grant Hanley scored for Norwich in November 2021 (nine years, 324 days after his previous goal).
It was a well-deserved goal for Wolves, who are finding their form at the perfect time of year, and Hee-Chan Hwang (69) increased the hosts’ lead in the second half with a poke. The result was much needed for Wolves, who are currently seven points clear of the bottom three after two consecutive league victories. Brentford’s season is in danger of coming to an end after only three efforts on target against Molineux. For the first time since January/February 2022, they have now lost three consecutive Premier League games. They remain in ninth on 43 points, six away from Brighton in seventh place.
The Wolves started out strong, with David Raya making a string of saves. Within three minutes, the Brentford custodian saved a long-range Mario Lemina shot. He then denied Matheus Cunha and Costa from cutting the ball back at the near post. The attacker eventually beat Raya in the 27th minute. Costa started the break by driving down the pitch and finding Toti on the left wing. His cross into the area deflected off Norgaard’s toe before falling to Costa, who swept home past the custodian.
Brentford responded well after falling behind but did not have a shot on goal in the first half. Ivan Toney had a long-range attempt blocked shortly before the goal. He had previously attempted an adventurous overhead kick but failed to hit well enough to concern Jose Sa. The second half started with big saves at both ends. Sa utilized his feet to deflect a tempting Josh Dasilva cross. Raya then required another outstanding save to keep out Costa’s powerful close-range effort.
Wolves have had little success with VAR this season, with two penalty appeals denied shortly after. The first was a handball call against Ethan Pinnock, despite the fact that Toti’s cushioned header smacked him on the arm at close range. Toti was involved for the second time when Raya challenged him inside the area. Referee Paul Tierney dismissed the accusations, and the judgment was upheld after a VAR review.
Brentford’s first effort on goal came in the 66th minute through Yoane Wissa, but Wolves increased their lead three minutes later. Nunes made a spectacular play down the right side, driving in between Vitaly Janelt and Rico Henry. His cross deflected off Pinnock’s foot, and the loose ball was pushed home by the lurking Hwang. Brentford’s greatest chances came in the final 10 minutes, which was disappointing. To begin, Sa is required to be alert in order to save a Janelt header. Then, in the third minute of extra time, Toney hit the post from a tight angle after a touch by Sa.
“We are always pleased with a victory. We require it because we require a large number of victories to attain our goal. Today’s contest was quite difficult,” Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui said. “We played a good game, and we suffered when we needed to. We deserved to win against a very talented squad in the end, and we have three points more. It’s about making the commitment to show the opponent that you want more than they do… we’ve put in a lot of effort with and without the ball. It’s not easy to play Brentford. They put you under a lot of mental strain because their set pieces are quite rare. We’re going to have a good game against them. We are content, yet we must continue.”
“It was obviously a case where things could have gone another way. I believe the first half was perfectly level, and I believe we had better opportunities to score in the first half. We played well in the second half until the second goal,” Brentford boss Thomas Frank said. “Overall, our performance was arguably even, if not better than our away victories at West Ham and Southampton. We just didn’t score the first goal today, and we let up two goals on ricochets. It’s all about the margin of victory.”
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