We looked at four things we learned after Wolves did enough to knock West Brom out of the FA Cup in a 2-0 victory.
In a tense tie, Pedro Neto gave the visitors the lead at the Hawthorns with a great finish just before half-time. Matheus Cunha then followed this up in the second period with Wolves second.
Crowd trouble after Cunha’s goal delayed Wolves’ full-time celebrates as the game was stopped for nearly 40 minutes. However, O’Neil’s side saw out the victory in the remaining minutes after the restart to progress to the FA Cup fifth round.
The performance wasn’t as good as many in recent weeks, however, it did the job in what was a highly tense game.
Now the dust has settled, we look at four big takeaways from the tie as Wolves got their first victory at the Hawthorns since 1996.
Pedro Neto shines once more
The winger sprang into life just when Wolves and O’Neil needed him. After a hit-and-miss first 30 minutes, Neto scored a vital goal. Running towards the net from the halfway line, the winger cut inside and put Wolves in front with a clean finish at the Hawthorns.
Neto is now back to his best after his injury and spending two months out on the sidelines. It comes at a highly important run for the club this season as they look to push for on.
With clubs continuing to hold interest in the winger, hopefully, O’Neil can continue to get the best out of him in case he does leave in the summer.
Tommy Doyle is the real deal
Since coming into the starting XI at the backend of 2023, Doyle has easily been Wolves’ best player.
The midfielder has controlled every game he has played, dictating almost everything that happens on the pitch.
After a great performance against Brighton at the start of the week, Doyle followed it up with another sensational display.
The Man City loanee helped push Wolves forward multiple times. He was highly unlucky not to grab an assist as his emphatic cross was inches away from Cunha in the second half.
Defensively Doyle arguably shone the brightest as he eliminated multiple West Brom threats before they could reach dangerous areas.
Wolves’ defence shines again
After a difficult first half of the season, Wolves’ backline has really shone since the start of 2024.
Starting off against Brentford, the defence held firm, despite the visitors only having 10 players to get a replay. This was soon followed up by a great clean sheet away to Brighton to end their goalscoring run at home.
Then, versus West Brom, multiple players in defence were on top form yet again. Craig Dawson and Max Kilman both stopped some potentially devastating moves from the hosts.
In attack, the backline also contributed massively as both Matt Doherty and Kilman got assists for each of the goals.
Crowd trouble spoils the occasion
While the victory was certainly memorable from a footballing perspective, the crowd trouble was not.
The game was forced to a halt after many fans made their way onto the pitch and towards one of the stands. This caused distasteful scenes with multiple people injured in the chaos.
A derby will always cause emotion but sadly, these emotions clearly boiled over after Cunha’s goal.
Thankfully, the majority of Wolves fans stayed away from this which helped get the game back underway.