Despite losing late in the game, there were plenty of positives to take from Wolves’ defeat to Manchester City.
It was a difficult afternoon for Gary O’Neil’s side, who after keeping the champions at bay for 90 minutes, conceded a controversial goal in stoppage time.
John Stones’ late winner was ruled out for offside on-field before being overturned by VAR, seeing Wolves’ efforts amount to nothing on a hard-fought afternoon.
As a result, the Old Gold remain bottom of the table with just one point to their name, despite the impressive show the squad put on against Man City.
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Theo Walcott blasts Jose Sa after Wolves defeat to Man City
It was a difficult result to take for Wolves, who tested the champions for 90 minutes at Molineux before having their heart broken by Stones.
On a day that ended in defeat, there were a host of top performers on show for O’Neil to applaud, with few better than Jose Sa.
The Portugal international was called into action after Sam Johnstone suffered an injury, seeing him start for the first time following the Englishman’s arrival.
While Sa was integral to Wolves throughout the fixture as City applied the pressure, not everyone was impressed by the 31-year-old’s display, as Theo Walcott blasted the shot-stopper for one thing he failed to do.
On BBC Match of the Day 2, the former Arsenal winger questioned Sa’s reaction to Stones’ match-winner, as Bernardo Silva’s positioning in front of the ‘keeper saw it initially ruled out for offside.
“For me, if you have been fouled or if you have been affecting the game, the goalkeeper needs to get up, needs to get up and go straight to the referee’s face, say there has been a foul,” Walcott said.
“All of the players are just disheartened to see what has happened. There is no reaction whatsoever. Acceptance that, look, we have lost the game. If you are the goalkeeper, you go straight to the referee.”
The BBC pundit expected Sa to dispute the match-winner after Silva’s contact, which he failed to do.
Sa impressed against Man City
It was arguably the only piece of criticism that Sa received from the game, as the ‘keeper played with full confidence between the sticks.
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Walcott wanted to see more fight from the Wolves star to appeal Stones’ goal, with VAR later overturning the call away from the goalkeeper’s favour.
Aside from the lack of fire that the pundit expected, it was a memorable afternoon for Sa, who made five saves against the champions, admirably denying both Silva and Savinho.
O’Neil now has a decision to make regarding who plays in goal when Johnstone is fit, with Sa certainly making a strong claim for himself when the stakes were at their highest.