One player was the standout for Wolves as they came away with an important 2-0 win in the Black Country Derby to progress in the FA Cup.
After an even first 30 minutes, Pedro Neto continued his form this season to put Wolves in front in the first half. Matheus Cunha then made it 2-0 late on as Gary O’Neil’s side saw out the victory.
Ugly scenes saw the game paused for over 30 minutes after the second due to crowd trouble. However, after the restart Wolves did enough to see out the result.
Wolves are now seven games unbeaten as they progressed into the round of 16. The manager has turned Wolves into a really tough team to play against and have now kept back-to-back away clean sheets in all competitions.
After Wolves earned their first win at the Hawthorns for almost 10,000, below is how we rated the players.
GK – Jose Sa – 6/10
The goalkeeper didn’t have to do much and made some simple stops throughout. However, Sa made an important save late on to prevent it being a grand-stand finish.
RWB – Nelson Semedo – 6/10
Wasn’t allowed to go forward as much this game with West Brom pressing high. However, Semedo kept his side of the pitch locked down throughout as he saw out another clean sheet.
CB – Max Kilman – 8/10
Kilman made a vital intervention to stop West Brom from netting an early equaliser in the second half. The captain then contributed again as he played through Matheus Cunha for Wolves’ second before keeping a clean sheet.
CB – Craig Dawson – 8/10
At his old stomping ground, Dawson saved Wolves multiple times in the opening 30 minutes as he made some vital blocks. The experienced defender was vital to the win throughout and was certainly one of the standout players.
CB – Toti Gomes – 6/10
Toti Gomes was up against it in the first half with former Wolves man Jed Wallace proving to be a tough battle for the centre-back. However, as the game went on, the Portuguese international got into the grove of things once more as he saw out the win and the clean sheet.
LWB – Matt Doherty – 7/10
Doherty played a vital role in scoring the opener. His interception from the West Brom corner was vital before he played a great ball through to Pedro Neto.
CM – Tommy Doyle – 9/10
Tommy Doyle once again controlled the midfield and the tempo throughout the game. However, his defensive skills were on full display on the weekend. The midfielder helped cut out multiple dangerous balls to limit the hosts many times.
CM – Mario Lemina – 6/10
Mario Lemina was his usual composed self in the middle of the pitch. While Tommy Doyle will take all the headlines for his performance in the middle of the park, Lemina didn’t put a foot wrong throughout.
RW – Pedro Neto – 7/10
After little came off for him, Neto sprang the game into life with a vital goal. After Doherty gave him the ball on the halfway line, the winger still had a lot to do. However, Neto made it look easy as he cut in and placed the ball into the back of the net.
ST – Jean-Ricner Bellegarde – 5/10
Bellegarde struggled to make an impact in the number nine role. With the visitors aiming to counter-attack West Brom, it looked as if the game would be ideal for the Frenchman. However, he couldn’t really get into the game. O’Neil’s side certainly still misses Hwang Hee-Chan.
LW – Matheus Cunha – 7/10
Cunha had a couple of pot shots that went close in the first half. The attacker was extremely close to netting Wolves’ second as he was inches away from connecting with Tommy Doyle’s cross just after the hour mark. The goal did eventually come as he put Wolves 2-0 up with a neat finish after being played through.
Sub – Rayan Ait-Nouri – 6/10
His first game back since returning from AFCON, Ait-Nouri was asked to fill out the winger role midway into the second half. He then helped to see the result out.
Sub – Tawanda Chirewa – 6/10
Didn’t have time to make an impact.