Wolves fell to a 2-0 defeat against Manchester United yesterday in the Premier League – but Dan Bentley is coming in for a lot of plaudits for his display.
Wanderers just weren’t at it at Old Trafford, and didn’t have a single shot on target.
Anthony Martial and Alejandro Garnacho got the goals for the hosts, and Wolves just didn’t have the cutting edge.
Julen Lopetegui made just one change to the team that started against Aston Villa, with Bentley replacing Sa between the sticks.
He came in for his Wolves and Premier League debut.
Fans were very keen to get a first glimpse of him – and he thoroughly impressed, making a total of eight saves in the game.
The 29-year-old showed a fantastic command of his area, and was also fairly decent with his distribution.
Some have been wanting for Bentley to play because Jose Sa had been in poor form. And Bentley may now have given Lopetegui something to think about.
Sa and Bentley are rivals in the sense that they are both trying to get first-team minutes.
But the pair are good friends being a part of the goalkeepers’ union.
They’ve got a good relationship, which was evidence by a nice comment left by Sa on Bentley’s latest Instagram post.
Bentley said: “Very proud to have made my @wolves and Premier League debut.
“Not the result we wanted, but the hard work continues. Thank you for the messages and support.
Sa said simply ‘What a game’.
Also in the comments was Alex Scott, a player Wolves are thought to be looking to sign.
The £25 million-rated midfielder, Bentley’s former Bristol City teammate, said ‘Congrats bro’.
Dan Bentley looks to be a very good deputy, as Jose Sa sends supportive message to Wolves debutant
Bentley’s performance against United yesterday was very promising indeed.
He is clearly not just at Wolves to play second fiddle.
He has said himself already that he wants to push Sa and try to get minutes himself.
And that is very healthy.
Now that Bentley has shown what he’s about in a match, the competition between him and Sa could really hot up.