Matheus Cunha put in a big performance for Wolves as the club recorded their first Premier League win of the season against Southampton.
Wolves have moved up to 18th in the table as a result of the 2-0 victory.
Lots of Wolves fans would still like to see Gary O’Neil sacked, but there is at least a little bit more optimism now heading into the international break.
It was a must-win game for Wolves and thankfully, Cunha really stepped up at Molineux.
The Brazilian laid on a brilliant assist for Pablo Sarabia to put Wolves ahead, before scoring a superb goal himself from 25 yards – which Ruben Neves, watching on from the stands, would no doubt have been proud of.
It wasn’t a wholly convincing performance from Wolves against a struggling side.
But three points is three points, and Cunha has been coming in for praise left, right and centre since the final whistle.
Wolves stars respond as Matheus Cunha posts on Instagram after Southampton win
It was a win Wolves and O’Neil badly needed.
Anything other than three points did not bear thinking about and thankfully, Cunha was at his best against the Saints.
The Brazilian provided two moments of quality, in a Wolves performance that was lacking.
O’Neil said after the game that Cunha needs to improve off the ball, which drew criticism from some fans considering his game-winning contributions.
But the former Atletico Madrid man was a shining light, as he has been in several games already this season.
After the win, Cunha posted on Instagram, writing: “Finally thank you God 😅❤️🔥.”
A number of his teammates responded:
Jorgen Strand Larsen: ‘Wow❤️🙌’
Rodrigo Gomes: ‘Joga muito (Play too hard) 🔥🔥🔥🔥’
Pablo Sarabia: ‘Juegas mucho bro seguimos! (You play a lot bro, we’ll continue!) 🔥🔥’
Dan Bentley: ‘💆🏼♂️💆🏼♂️😉’
There was also a show of affection from former winger Pedro Neto, who was particularly close with Cunha before his move from Wolves to Chelsea.
Impressed with Cunha’s performance and goal, he commented ‘Bonito papaiiiii’, roughly translating to ‘Beautiful father’.
Cunha Wolves’ MVP again
This was yet another clutch performance from Cunha, who has started the season extremely well despite the collective struggles of the team.
It’s now five goals for Cunha this season, and the South American already looks to be well on his way to bettering his tally of 12 league goals last term.
| Matheus Cunha for Wolves |
| Appearances – 68 |
| Goals – 21 |
| Assists – 11 |
| Transfer fee – £44m |
The key is keeping Cunha fit. We have seen several times now how he is capable of providing those moments of quality in games that are on a knife edge. Quite simply, Wolves are just not the same threat, or team, without him.
His partnership with Jorgen Strand Larsen is going from strength to strength too which is really positive to see.
Wolves have six points on the board now and Cunha has been instrumental in picking up five of those with his goal contributions in the games against Brighton, Crystal Palace and Southampton, and long may this vein of form continue.