A sole Hwang Hee-Chan goal was all that separated Wolves and Burnley on Tuesday night as Gary O’Neil’s side came away with all three points.
Despite only winning 1-0, it was quite a comfortable performance in the end with the visitors posing little threat after the opener.
After back-to-back defeats to Fulham and Arsenal, a win was needed against Burnley and in the end, O’Neil’s men did the job at Molineux.
On paper, the result was expected. Burnley has struggled since promotion to the Premier League and has only managed to win two Premier League games.
However, for Wolves the result was much more significant for a number of factors.
Wolves’ defence holds firm
Wolves kept their first clean sheet in the Premier League since August on Tuesday.
Under the floodlights, O’Neil’s men limited the visitors throughout with their only real chance coming just before the opener as Dan Bentley produced a great double save.
After the opener, Wolves had little to worry about with Max Kilman, Craig Dawson and Toti Gomes all having great games.
This is a massive improvement on the side’s last two games. Recently at the back, Wolves have been all over the place.
O’Neil’s side conceded early on in both of their last two defeats, instantly putting them at a disadvantage.
However, the defence was on form at Molineux on Tuesday night and easily kept out a Burnley side that scored five on the weekend.
Even Bentley, on his first Premier League start this season was more than up for the task with another great performance as he came into the side for the injured Jose Sa.
Now after keeping their first Premier League clean sheet since their 1-0 against Everton, O’Neil will be hoping that his backline can now kick on.
Gary O’Neil pleased with Dan Bentley’s performance
Jose Sa has been in control of the number-one spot in the net all season.
After Bentley’s poor performance in Wolves’ 3-2 defeat to Ipswich in the Carabao Cup, the ‘keeper looked unlikely to return to the starting XI anytime soon.
However, since he came on against Arsenal, Bentley has looked more than impressive and is yet to concede a goal in the Premier League this season.
O’Neil has been impressed with his performances in between the sticks after he helped Wolves’ defence keep Burnley at bay.
“A big mention to Dan Bentley. Number two goalkeeper is such a tough job because you sit on the side and watch,” he told Wolves. “Obviously, you train hard every day, and he works his socks off, and you’re thrown in and expected to perform at the highest level.
“To get a clean sheet at the Emirates, which he did, and then come here and back it up with another one, of course with the whole team helping him, was pleasing. It was never going to be free-scoring, I didn’t see it being high scoring, so to get ourselves in front with a good press and bit of quality, then to be solid and limit Burnley to not very much, was pleasing.”