Wolves travelled to Craven Cottage knowing the magnitude of this tie in the eyes of many nay-sayers, but that didn’t prevent a start we’ve become all too familiar with.
After a seven-goal Carabao Cup thriller against Chelsea — which narrowly ended in defeat — the discourse around Wolves was actually a bit more positive than in previous weeks.
Pereira and his players have faced harsh criticism of late, but a defiant second-half resurgence at Molineux on Wednesday went some way to repairing a strained relationship with the fans.
Pereira’s lineup to face Fulham raised eyebrows once again, and when Ryan Sessegnon slotted home after just eight minutes, they were quick to make their feelings known.
Wolves fans started chanting Joao Gomes and Andre’s names after Fulham’s opener
Any feelings of optimism were quickly quelled in the opening minutes.
Santiago Bueno committed to intercepting a pass, and when he missed, Fulham had open grass ahead, allowing Sessegnon to finish past Sam Johnstone.
During the midweek match, Wolves fans erupted with chants aimed at Pereira, saying he would be sacked in the morning. Not wanting to show a lack of creativity, they switched up their complaint at Craven Cottage.
Of all the omissions from Saturday’s lineup, leaving the Brazilian duo of Andre and Joao Gomes on the bench was most surprising. It was their names that were bellowing from the away end right after the goal went in.
Marco Silva singled out Gomes and Andre as quality players, but they weren’t deployed to cause him any issues.
Another questionable personnel call that Wolves fans made sure to call out.
- READ MORE: Raul Jimenez will have an important mission against Wolves with career record on the line
Emmanuel Agbadou marks his return with a red card
We felt Pereira should start Emmanuel Agbadou against Fulham after a great display against Chelsea.
He didn’t repay the faith, taking Josh King down as the last man and getting his marching orders in the 36th minute.
There’s plenty of disagreement over whether the red card should have stood, but it did, leaving Wolves with an uphill battle for the remainder of the afternoon.
It would be more downhill, though. Wolves conceded two more and ended the day with another sickening loss. What’s next?