Wolves scored four goals away from home in the Premier League for the first time in more than a decade on Wednesday night as the Old Gold claimed an away win against Brentford, and there were plenty of post-match talking points to discuss.
A Christmas to remember
It has been a very merry Christmas for Wolves in 2023, with Gary O’Neil’s men picking up six points from their two festive fixtures, following up the Christmas Eve treat against Chelsea at Molineux with their first win on the road in more than two months. Mario Lemina and Hee Chan Hwang helped put Brentford to the sword before half time as the Old Gold turned on the style before settling into a more defensive shape after the break to stop a Bees side – who hadn’t played for 10 days and were much the fresher team later in the match – from getting back into the contest, before Jean-Ricner Bellegarde put the game beyond doubt with a quick counter attack 10 minutes from full-time.
After the match, legendary Wolves full-back Andy Thompson said: “It’s a bit chilly down here, but it was a great result to warm people up. That first half was very convincing with the 3-1 lead and how quickly we got the goals as well. The only disappointment that I would look at is giving away that goal so quickly after we scored our second, because that goal just changes to whole complex of the actual game. When you’re listening to the people around you, you can always tell how things have gone at the game, and the Wolves fans were definitely on top in that regard, you could hear the Wolves fans all night in that corner opposite us, but it was a convincing lead going into half time.
“I kept mentioning how deep we were, but I think they were allowing Brentford to have the possession that they had and invite them onto us. We were trying to fill those gaps in front of us and not allow Brentford to get in behind, even though Lewis-Potter on this left-hand side put a couple of good balls across the box and fortunately we defended it pretty well and saw the ball out. But we defended well as a team in the second half. We didn’t concede in the second half and we got that fourth goal which was important just to kill them off. The crowd were trying to get Brentford up and help them to get the goal to get them back into the game, but it wasn’t to be for them.”
Hwang on the double
Wolves have not had a player reach a double figure goal tally in the Premier League since the 2019/20 season when Raul Jimenez hit 17 in the top flight, but Hee Chan Hwang has only gone and done it with just half of the campaign in the books. The South Korean marksman scored his 9th goal in the league early on at the Gtech Community Stadium, before reaching number 10 just 12 seconds after the restart when he capitalised on a mistake by former Wolves defender Nathan Collins. That takes his tally up to 11 in all competitions for the season and puts him just six goals away from his most productive ever season, having reached 16 twice while playing for Red Bull Salzburg. However, the forward was taken off injured just before the break and is still to be seen if he is back in the side for the visit of Everton this weekend.
Thompson: “We were trying to look at the replays and see where he got the injury and whether or not someone caught him in the back, but it must have been prior to the incident we were looking at. But he was holding his back and he seemed to be in discomfort and pain with it, and was struggling, but having two goals, I’m sure he would have wanted to stay on and try and get his hat-trick because he seemed very lively. He was causing them all sorts of problems with his runs across the backline, just getting in behind them and causing them problems, and he took his two goals absolutely beautifully.
“The second one where he did the little flick past Pinnock, but it was all about the quality of his finishing. He struggled in the previous couple of games to get himself into them, whether that was the supply, his positioning, but that’s 11 goals he’s got this season in all competitions and it does wonders for the side as well. Goals give you confidence and give you that little more energy to get you in front, and that’s exactly what happened throughout the game. We ended up being pretty comfortable in the end.”
A touch of class from Hee Chan 😎 pic.twitter.com/wCoB68VMwO
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 28, 2023
Scoring four goals on the road
Scoring goals has been one of Wolves’ biggest challenges during the last three seasons, with the team only finding the net 31 times last season, after campaigns of 36 and 38 goals. With the four against Brentford, O’Neil’s men have already struck 27 so far this term and if they are to repeat that amount for the second half of the season, are on target for their highest scoring total since returning to the top flight back in 2018. Wednesday evening was also the first time Wolves have scored four in a league game since a 4-0 win over Bolton in their Championship winning campaign, and first in the top flight quartet since a 4-4 draw against Swansea City in April 2012.
Thompson: “We’ve said a lot that this side don’t score enough goals, but that’s two games over Christmas and we’ve got six goals out of it. We’ve conceded two, which isn’t bad, but to get the six goals is important because we know the goal difference is something that we need to work on, and it’s been the same for a couple of years now, but we’ve never been a really big scoring side, but to come here tonight, which I thought was going to be a tricky tie – I know they’ve got a few out injured – but we handled it really well.
“We were very clinical in our finishing and I know we had a few invitations from the back line of Brentford, whether they passed us the ball or gave the ball away, but you take the game as it is. We got those four goals tonight and going into the weekend against an Everton side which is going to be a big battle at home.”
Ait-Nouri, Lemina and Gomes’ impact
Rayan Ait-Nouri’s return from injury has coincided with Wolves picking up two wins from the last week with the wing-back producing another impressive showing in west London. But it wasn’t just the Algerian who was singled out for praise after the 4-1 win, but the midfield duo of Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes have been in scintillating form of late, and having played a key role in the Christmas Eve win, were once again coming up with the goods in midweek, with Lemina opening the scoring for the second game running, latching onto another Pablo Sarabia cross.
Thompson: “Ait-Nouri’s just come back from an ankle injury but he seemed ok tonight and it seemed he’s getting stronger with the confidence of playing there. We saw him pretty close up in the first half, how quick his feet are, getting at defenders, and he just moves the ball and he’s gone. He still needs to work on that final ball though, because he does everything right when he’s running with the ball, how quick his feet are, but it’s just that final delivery. If he can conquer that, for me, with his value to the team and the way that he plays, he will improve absolute loads. That’s the one thing he’s just missing, putting that ball in the right area, because there’s no doubt that he’s got talent and he’s definitely improved.
“Lemina and Gomes are a good pair. They go so well together and work together so seamlessly with the way that they play. I was watching Lemina in the first half and I mentioned where he has that experience just to give a little bit of a nudge as he’s going to go for the ball and the referee and the officials don’t spot it, because he just knocks the players a little bit off balance which gives the advantage to him. But his goalscoring is great and he seems to be doing really well. He’s strong, he gets himself into the right positions, he scored against Chelsea with the first goal and he got another one tonight, so he’s definitely a threat with the way he plays, he’s a big, strong lad, and him and Gomes are a brilliant pair for us in the games, and teams struggle against them with the way they play. They’re mobile, they’re strong, and, above all else, they can play as well.”
𝐁𝐈𝐆 +𝟑 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 💪🏾
— Mario Lemina (@LeminaM_13) December 28, 2023
Well done to the lads 🐺 Thanks to all the fans 🧡
We keep fighting Dad 🤲🏾#L5MINA #Wolves pic.twitter.com/VDoBRYbBUb
Reaching the halfway point of the season
With 19 games gone in the current campaign, Wolves have reached the midway point of the season, with O’Neil’s men having picked up 25 points so far, leaving the team in 11th position, and missing out on a place in the top half of the table to Chelsea on goal difference. The Old Gold have played 40 games in total since the start of 2023 having claimed 53 points in total, and would also be 11th in the league, having won 15 games since the turn of the year, drawing eight and losing the other 17. But after a slow start to the current campaign, Wolves are picking up results of late, losing just once in their last five, while winning three, as well as extending their unbeaten home streak to seven matches.
Thompson: “If you’d have said to me at the beginning of the season that we’d be on 25 points at the turn of the year, I’d have bit your hand off. Everybody doubted us with the way that things had gone and the management situation, but Gary O’Neil has come in and done a great job. Credit to him because he’s had a good start to the season and it’s good to go into the new year hopefully on the back of a win.”
Thompson was talking to Matt Ponter on Wolves’ official post-match podcast, Matchday Live Extra, which is available to listen to now on all podcast providers.
