Former Wolves midfielder Dave Edwards has expressed his surprise about the golden chance Nelson Semedo had against Sheffield United where he opted to pass instead of shoot.
Wanderers fell to a frustrating 2-1 defeat at Bramall Lane, and there was controversy at the end when referee Robert Jones awarded the hosts a penalty.
He felt Fabio Silva had fouled George Baldock but replays showed the defender was already going to ground before very minimal contact from Silva.
The decision was slammed far and wide, with Gary Lineker branding it a ‘stinking decision’ straight after the game.
That penalty decision has dominated all the talk about the game.
Really though, Wolves should not have been in a position to lose points given Gary O’Neil’s side were quite dominant in the first-half.
There was one excellent opportunity to score just before half-time when Nelson Semedo was played in, but he tried to square the ball instead of shoot…
Dave Edwards stunned Wolves defender Nelson Semedo tried to pass instead of shoot against Sheffield United
Former Wolves midfielder-turned-pundit Dave Edwards mentioned the chance in his latest Express & Star column.
He was talking about how Wolves could have been out of sight in the game.
In the 42nd minute, Semedo was played in by Matheus Cunha, who had been picked out with a great ball over the top by Craig Dawson.
The Brazilian dribbled to the edge of the area and slipped the full-back in.
Semedo then had a golden opportunity to test Wes Foderingham in the Sheffield United goal. But the Portuguese elected to try and square the ball to Sasa Kalajdzic, who had three players marking him.
Edwards said: “You’re wondering if it will go Wolves’ way and then Nelson Semedo has a chance, and god only knows why he opted to pass it instead of going for goal.
“Wolves could have easily been 2-0 or 3-0 up at half-time and the game would be done and dusted.”
Semedo should have far more goals for Wolves
In a way, this Semedo chance summed up Wolves perfectly. Many times in recent years, fans have watched the team work the ball into a promising position and then either mess up the finish or not pull the trigger at all.
Semedo simply has to shoot in that situation. The ball across to Kalajdzic was never on.
This is an area of Semedo’s game that could really do with some improvement.
He’s made 114 appearances now for Wanderers and has only scored two goals. He may be a defender, but that is an underwhelming return considering he’s played a lot of games as a wing-back.
Semedo often gets very high up the pitch and it is not completely alien for him to find himself in the opposition penalty area.
He has got to be more decisive and clinical when he finds himself in these positions, and the same goes for several other Wolves players.