Wolves bounced back to winning ways against Fulham on Saturday with a 2-1 win at Molineux, a victory that has been pinpointed as something special by journalist Nathan Judah.
Wolves got their hopes of finishing in a European place back on track on Saturday, beating Fulham 2-1 at Molineux to make the defeat to Newcastle United a thing of the past.
Gary O’Neil’s side didn’t have it easy in the fixture, with their small squad seeming to shrink by the minute as Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Pedro Neto were forced to withdraw due to injury.
Bellegarde was filling in for the absence of Matheus Cunha, while a full Premier League debut was handed to 19-year-old Nathan Fraser to cover for the injured Hwang Hee-chan.
The Frenchman was hauled off in the 11th minute, followed later by Neto who alarmed fans by clutching his hamstring, making the fixture a difficult one for Wolves to digest before the 90 minutes was up.
Wolves dug deep to win against Fulham
Fulham arrived in the Midlands in strong form having secured two consecutive wins against Manchester United and Brighton.
O’Neil’s team was jaded by injury prior to kick-off, and even more so as the match unfolded however, the shortened squad refused to let their problems distract them.
Two goals courtesy of the Old Gold’s fullbacks, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo made Molineux burst with pride as their team battled to ensure that the three points were to stay in Wolverhampton.
Speaking in reaction to the game, O’Neil branded the result as “incredible”, singing his players’ praises for their ability to get the result despite their building injury concerns.
“For them to respond in the way that they did to a Fulham side who were almost full strength, was an incredible effort from an incredible group of players.”
What Nathan Judah loved about the Wolves win over Fulham
Someone who shared the delight of O’Neil over Wolves’ ability to dig deep against Fulham was journalist Nathan Judah, who outlined the points that made the win “sensational”.
When speaking on episode 331 of the E&S Podcast, Judah waxed lyrical about the current group playing under O’Neil.
“If Wolves lose that game two or three nil, I don’t think anyone would be questioning Gary O’Neil or the team, it’s just an unfortunate set of circumstances that I think most teams would’ve played and caved into, but, [the Wolves squad] absolutely continues to defy belief.”
“Whenever you think they’re written off, people will see the team sheet and go ‘Oh Europe’s over’…It’s almost like they love the adversity this team.”
The journalist continued to recognise the resilience of Wolves during the fixture, having lost four forwards due to injury both prior to and during the game.
“You look at some of the games they’ve won so far, and then in context, you look at that in three or four seasons time and you think Wolves 2-1 Fulham, it’s not very inspiring you just move on.”
“The circumstances around that victory and the way it’s galvanised the team, the club, the fans, with everything that’s going on around it is pretty sensational.”
Judah is right in singing the praises of the Old Gold, who had plenty of excuses to not win the game but, found a way to keep their European dream alive against the odds.
Now sitting just two points below West Ham in 7th, Wolves have 10 games to show their progression under O’Neil in a season that could end in a European fairytale becoming a reality.