Tag: Wolverhampton Wanderers

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Brighton soar to six-goal win over Wolves

File photo: Brighton

Mueez Ajao

– Brighton reignited their push for a place in Europe next season by recording their biggest-ever top-flight victory at the expense of woeful Wolves.

– The Seagulls remain eighth in the Premier League but are now just a point behind Liverpool in seventh and two behind fifth-placed Tottenham, who have played two games more than Roberto de Zerbi’s side.

– Deniz Undav broke the deadlock with his first Premier League goal, before Pascal Gross made it 2-0 with an easy finish following Julio Enciso’s driving run and pass.

Also Read: Man Utd beat Brighton on penalties to make the Cup final

– Gross doubled his personal tally in sensational fashion midway through the first half, controlling Enciso’s square ball before sending a swerving strike past Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa into the corner.

– Danny Welbeck’s close-range header from Pervis Estupinan’s cross made it 4-0 before half-time, and the former Manchester United and Arsenal forward grabbed his second early in the second half after intercepting Nathan Collins’ misplaced pass.

– Undav completed the scoring with another fabulous effort, dispossessing Matheus Nunes on the edge of the area and lifting a perfectly-weighted chip over Sa.

– Wolves remain eight points clear of the relegation zone, but manager Julen Lopetegui will be alarmed at the manner of his team’s collapse on the south coast.

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Fans arrested for anti-gay chants at Wolves vs Chelsea match

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. vs Chelsea FC

Mueez Ajao

– Three people were arrested in connection with anti-gay and discriminatory chants made during the Premier League match between Wolves and Chelsea on Saturday.

– Both teams and the Premier League condemned the chants directed at Chelsea supporters during the game which hosts Wolves won 1-0.

– “Homophobia, like all other forms of discrimination, has no place in football or society, and anyone engaging in discriminatory behaviour is committing a criminal offence,” Wolves said in a statement.

Also Read: Returning Lampard fail to tame Wolves

– “We can confirm that three arrests were made by West Midlands Police relating to homophobia, and the discriminatory chants in question.”

– West Midlands Police said three men aged 32, 24 and 21, were arrested on suspicion of a “public order offence which caused harassment, alarm or distress and also of using threatening words or behaviour to stir up sexual orientation hatred.”

– All three men have been released on bail while the police investigate continues.

– “What we heard at the match was incredibly disappointing,” Superintendent Sallie Churchill said in a statement to Reuters.

– “In response to the chants, supporters were reminded by a public address system announcement that discriminatory behaviour and chants of this nature will not be tolerated.

– “However, despite the warnings supporters continued. We have made three initial arrests.

– “We are continuing to investigate and officers are currently looking at CCTV to identify those taking part in the chants. We will be looking to make further arrests.”

– Wolves said they would fully support the police in their investigation.

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Returning Lampard fail to tame Wolves

Matheus Nunes

Mueez Ajao

– Frank Lampard made a losing return to the Chelsea hot-seat as Wolverhampton Wanderers eased their relegation worries with a hard-earned victory.

– Chelsea legend Lampard was predictably given a rapturous reception from the travelling fans at Molineux following his appointment as interim head coach 27 months after being sacked from the role.

– Yet the club’s all-time record scorer was unable to stop the poor form that led to Graham Potter’s sacking as mid-table Chelsea slumped to an 11th top-flight defeat of the season after failing to score for the third successive game.

Also Read: BREAKING: Chelsea appoint Lampard as caretaker manager

– Wolves were on the front-foot throughout and deserved their win which came after a sweet finish by Matheus Nunes, the Portugal midfielder’s first goal for the club since joining from Sporting Lisbon last August.

– Nunes, who cost a club record £38m, beat Kepa Arrizabalaga with a fierce attempt from the tightest of angles after an attempted headed clearance by Kalidou Koulibaly.

– Joao Felix forced a save from Jose Sa but Chelsea were disappointing and remain 11th after just two wins in 11 league games.

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Newcastle snatch important win against Wolves

Alexander Isak

Mueez Ajao

– Newcastle revived their bid to finish in the Premier League’s top four with a battling victory over Wolves at St James’ Park.

– Substitute Miguel Almiron scored the winner with 12 minutes left as the Magpies ended a run of three straight defeats in all competitions to leapfrog Liverpool into fifth on goal difference and move within four points of fourth-placed Tottenham, who have played two games more.

– Hwang Hee-chan, another substitute, had levelled for Wolves seconds after coming on to cancel out Alexander Isak’s towering first-half header.

Also Read: Guardiola makes Man City title admission after Newcastle win

– Wolves were second best for large periods but will feel aggrieved that they were not awarded a penalty, and that Nick Pope was not sent off, when the Newcastle goalkeeper appeared to take down Raul Jimenez six minutes before Isak’s opener, with referee Andy Madley waving away their appeals.

– Pope then went on to make a number of fine saves to deny Julen Lopetegui’s side, who stay 13th and miss the chance to move six points clear of the relegation zone.

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Wolves claw win to dent Spurs’ European hopes

Adama Traoré

Mueez Ajao

– Wasteful Tottenham ended a miserable week with a narrow defeat by Wolves after a late goal from Adama Traore stunned the Champions League contenders.

– Tottenham had the better of the chances and twice hit the woodwork, but the crossbar came to Wolves’ aid as Traore’s effort ricocheted past Fraser Forster.

– Wolves, who are now 13th, had been on the back foot for most of the game but made their late momentum count.

Also Read: Chelsea fan banned from football for racist gesture towards Spurs Son

– Spurs’ inconsistent form continued as they dropped important points in the race for a top four spot.

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Salah scores as Liverpool return to winning ways

Mohammed Salah

Mueez Ajao

– Goals from Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah earned Liverpool a hard-fought Premier League win against Wolves.

– Jurgen Klopp’s side looked to be facing a frustrating evening when Darwin Nunez’s strike was ruled out by VAR.

– However Reds captain Van Dijk made the breakthrough with a close-range header from Diogo Jota’s cross before Salah turned in a Kostas Tsimikas cut-back.

Virgil Van Djik

Also Read: Madrid’s Vinicius ‘very happy’ after victory at Liverpool

Mohammed Salah

– It moves Liverpool up to sixth, six points behind fourth-place Tottenham with a game in hand.

– Wolves remain 15th, just three points above the relegation zone, having offered minimal threat going forward.

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‘Disappointed and angry’ Klopp after 3-0 defeat at Wolves

Jurgen Klopp

Mueez Ajao

– Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said he has no explanation for his side’s 3-0 defeat at Wolves on Saturday, adding he was “angry” and “disappointed.”

– Relegation-threatened Wolves humiliated the Merseyside club at Molineux with Craig Dawson, Ruben Neves scoring after a Joel Matip own goal.

– The result means that Liverpool have only secured one win in seven games in all competitions since the turn of the year.

Also Read: Liverpool misery continues with defeat at Wolves

– “Obviously it was a horrible start. Two goals which cannot happen like that,” Klopp told Premier League Productions after the game. “But it happened and we were 2-0 down because of our own fault. We should have defended better. We were passive in that period. I cannot explain it. There is no excuse for it.

– “You’re 2-0 down, the crowd is there but it opens up and we get some control. Then for about 45 minutes we play a good away game without scoring. That sums it up pretty much.

– “Concentration for the first 15 minutes. Again, I cannot explain. But these 15 minutes cannot be allowed. It needs to change.

– “That’s the thing. I stand here again and for the first 15 minutes I have no explanation, I’m sorry. In the end we lost 3-0 because the goal in the second half was perhaps the first time they crossed the halfway line. But it’s right because when you start like this you don’t deserve anything in a Premier League game.

– “We have to change it immediately in the next game. Everton won today and they are in a good moment so we have to prove a point again. For the moment, I’m so disappointed and angry about the first 15 minutes, I can’t find the words for it. Then we have chances we should score. It could have been 2-1 and that would have changed everything I’m sure. Wolves deserve the three points.

– “Yes, definitely. That’s clear. We cannot go through that season that nobody did before but how long do we want to suffer? It is one explanation in general yes, but not for the first 15 minutes here today. What we make of it in this moment is absolutely not OK.”

– After coming close to a historic quadruple last season, where they won two domestic cups and were runners-up in both the Champions League and Premier League, Klopp’s injury-hit side have struggled this term.

– The result was the first time in a decade that Liverpool have lost three consecutive Premier League away games.

– They have conceded more goals in the Premier League this season — 28 in 21 games — than they did in the whole of last season and remain 21 points behind Arsenal at the top.

– “Same as the other games, we have no consistency at all through the 90 minutes, focused and doing what we have to do on the pitch fighting,” Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson said after the game.

– “First 15 minutes we started the game not in a good way and we got punished for that. Conceding two goals, we are not in a good situation. They are confident, we tried, did a good second half but conceded again. Completely frustrated.

– “Looks like in the game we went two steps behind then we make one step forward, we need to do more steps because of the results. Step forward was the second-half performance, two completely different sides first and second half. We have to take that for the next game and using the chances we have and stop conceding the silly goals.”

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Sterling Haaland keeps Man City wheels turning

Erling Haaland

Mueez Ajao

– Erling Haaland scored his fourth Manchester City hat-trick and took his goal tally for the season to 31 in all competitions as relegation-threated Wolves were swept aside by Pep Guardiola’s men.

Erling Haaland

– By his own incredibly high standards, Haaland had been going through a barren spell.

– But after ending a three-game drought against Tottenham on Thursday, the Norwegian demolished Wolves in a 12-minute spell either side of half-time.

Also Read: Man City have ‘no chance’ of stopping Arsenal from winning title – Guardiola

– Haaland initially rose to head home Kevin de Bruyne’s cross to put the hosts ahead at the break.

Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland

– He then drove home a penalty after Ilkay Gundogan had been fouled by Wolves skipper Ruben Neves, before sweeping home his third after Jose Sa’s pass out of his six-yard box went straight to Riyad Mahrez.

Riyad Mahrez and Erling Haaland

– Haaland has now scored 25 goals in City’s first 20 Premier League games. That is five more than Luis Suarez managed in 2013-14, the previous highest figure at this stage in the campaign.

– The Norwegian striker’s current total would have been enough to earn him the Golden Boot in more than half of the 30 seasons since the English top-flight was renamed in 1992.

Erling Haaland

– He has also already scored as many Premier League hat-tricks as Mo Salah, and a third of Sergio Aguero’s record 12, which the Argentine achieved across his magnificent decade with City.

Erling Haaland

– Only Alan Shearer has scored more Premier League hat-tricks in a single season, with five.

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Liverpool freeze out Wolves to reach FA Cup round

Harvey Elliott

Mueez Ajao

– Harvey Elliott scored a spectacular goal to hand Liverpool a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in their FA Cup replay at Molineux on Tuesday.

– Liverpool, who were coming off a 3-0 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion that left them ninth in the Premier League, drew 2-2 with Wolves in their first third-round meeting on Jan. 7.

– Despite a recent string of poor results, Jurgen Klopp still fielded a heavily rotated side for the replay. It paid dividends in the 13th minute when Harvey Elliot finished off a long run from midfield with a thunderous strike from distance to put Liverpool ahead.

Harvey Elliott

Also Read: Resilient Wolves take Liverpool into FA Cup replay

– William Carvalho doubled the visitors’ lead as half-time approach with a tidy finish from Joe Gomez’s through ball, but the goal was ruled out for offside and Liverpool took their 1-0 lead into the break.

– Wolves chased an eqauliser to no avail for the majority of the second half before Julien Lopetegui brought on former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa to try to force extra time, but could not find a way back into the game.

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OFFICIAL: Wolves sign Lemina from Nice

Mario Lemina

Mueez Ajao

– Wolves have completed the signing of Nice midfielder Mario Lemina for a fee believed to be about 11m euros (£9.7m).

– The former Southampton player has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the option of a further year.

– The 29-year-old Gabon international joined Southampton in 2017 and his stint at the club included loan spells at Galatasaray and Fulham.

Also Read: Lopetegui blames VAR as camera angle costs Wolves FA Cup win over Liverpool

– Lemina joined Nice in 2021 and has made 22 appearances for them this season, scoring once.

– “Mario is a good player,” Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui said.

– “We know him, he wants to be here, and he knows the English league. I think that he has the profile to be a good player for us. That’s why he’s here and I wish him all the best.

– “He has the profile to help us to improve and to be able to improve our performance in the next matches.”

– Sporting director Matt Hobbs said the club had been tracking the player for some time.

– “He isn’t someone who has come up since Julen came in, he’s a player were able to sign in the past but hasn’t progressed to this point until now. Our scouting team pushed him last summer and the transfer wasn’t possible, but we’re pleased Julen had the same belief in Mario that we had.

– “When the manager came in, he had enquired about the player when he was at Seville, so has had a long-term interest and the club have had a long-term interest, so in some ways it was fate that we were able to do it now.”

– Wolves have pledged to bolster the new manager’s squad, with up to six new signings expected this month, although not all will be regarded as regular starters.

– The club have already brought in Matheus Cunha from Atletico Madrid, while other players on their radar include West Ham defender Craig Dawson, Manchester United full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Paris St-Germain’s attacking midfielder Pablo Sarabia, who spent last season on loan with Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon.

– West Ham boss David Moyes revealed earlier on Friday that his club had turned down an offer from Wolves for Dawson.

– Wolves are 19th in the Premier League and have a crucial game against the fourth-from-bottom Hammers at Molineux on Saturday.