Wolves 0 Sunderland 0 – Report and pictures

Nuno Espirito Santo's side created hardly any clear-cut opportunities of note and were restricted to half chances and snap shots, with Sunderland keeper Robbin Ruiter only making one good save from Diogo Jota.

Defensive-minded Sunderland were reduced to 10 men on the hour mark when Lee Cattermole saw but despite a late onslaught Wolves couldn't break the deadlock on an afternoon of frustration.

Analysis

A dedicated group of staff worked through the night to get this game on amid snow and freezing temperatures...Nuno may have wished they hadn't bothered.

This had to happen at some point.

It's just a shock to anyone who's seen Sunderland this season that it was the Black Cats who ended Wolves' six-game winning run and became just the third team to stop therm scoring this season, writes Tim Spiers at Molineux.

Nuno Espirito Santo's team dominated play – and the statistics, producing 23 shots to Sunderland's one and having 71 per cent possession.

There's no stat for 'poor end product' but that was Wolves' biggest problem here. Work rate? Not an issue. But creativity was in short supply and once the Sunderland wall sat even deeper after Lee Cattermole's red card simply frustrated an increasingly frantic and decreasingly sophisticated Wolves even further.

The Black Cats, to give them their dues, defended magnificently at times and were ultimately impenetrable, with keeper Robbin Ruiter forced into making only one decent save, for all Wolves' possession, crosses, attempted through balls and shots.

One to chalk off as 'one of those days'? After the season they've had so far and the magnificent recent run of victories, you can let them off this once.

But that's two games in a row Wolves have been well below their best and with tricky fixtures against Sheffield Wednesday (a), Ipswich (h), Millwall (a) and then third-placed Bristol City (a) to come before the year ends, they'll have to play considerably better than this.

Match report

Ruben Neves came back into the side at Alfred N'Diaye's expense after the Portuguese midfielder's suspension at Blues on Monday. Romain Saiss was passed fit after limping off in that game.

Sunderland's recently-appointed boss Chris Coleman set his team up in a 5-4-1, dropping winger Aiden McGeady in what was a defensive-minded line up designed to frustrate Wolves.

For the first half it certainly worked.

Wolves began as they needed to, on the front foot, but despite a couple of minor scares the Black Cats defended with organisation and discipline, in sharp contrast to their blunder-laden opening months to the campaign.

With Coleman's team sitting so deep it was mostly left to Neves to try and pick apart the cyan-shirted defenders, but with so many digging a trench in front of keeper Robbin Ruiter he was mostly restricted to those familiar quarterback-style passes out wide.

It was a half riddled with frustration – and one of the worst 45 minutes seen from Nuno's team this season. There was no lack of effort from the home team but they could certainly be accused of a lack of urgency and creativity.

Wolves, like Sunderland, failed to muster a solitary shot on target (although Steve Cotterill would have claimed there'd been at least six or seven).

Ivan Cavaleiro looked the most likely to produce something special, drifting wide to find space, but when Wolves did find half a yard in a decent shooting position they were strangely off colour.

Neves chipped over the top for Diogo Jota but he blazed it comfortably wide, Neves himself scuffed a couple of long range efforts and Barry Douglas twice getting in behind but seeing his crosses blocked.

The whole thing was summed up on the stroke of half time when Bonatini shanked a 15-yard shot nearer the corner flag than the goal.

The half time whistle drew a muted response, while the away fans sang "top of the league, you're having a laugh," which was rich from them, albeit fair based on that 45 minutes.

Wolves upped the tempo at the start of the second period with Douglas' 20-yard free kick clipping the top of the ball and Bonatini seeing a shot blocked.

Marc Wilson was tasked with the now familiar opposition tactic of 'kick Diogo Jota' and his crude scything down of the forward drew an apoplectic response from Nuno who flew down the touchline flailing his arms, earning a ticking off from the referee after he'd booked former Albion loanee Wilson.

Remarkably it took until the 56th minute for either side to muster a shot on target. That honour fell to Lewis Grabban whose long-ranger was gobbled up by Ruddy.

Wolves had enjoyed 70 per cent possession but were still struggling to break Sunderland down and create anything meaningful.

Then just after the hour came what should have been a pivotal moment. Lee Cattermole, booked just a minute earlier, foolishly went flying in on, yes, Jota, and was rightly shown a second yellow and a red card.

Wolves had produced 13 shots (none on target) to Sunderland's one at this point but most of those efforts were woefully substandard and with 20 minutes to go a slight air of desperation crept into their play.

Nuno called for Alfred N'Diaye in place of Saiss for an extra man to burst into the box, then Helder Costa replaced Douglas with Cavaleiro going to left wing back.

It was attack versus defence but Wolves couldn't blow the Sunderland house down. Their end product was bang average, with Cavaleiro shanking two crosses when well placed and Neves blazing two more shots comfortably off target.

They did force Robbin Ruiter into a save, albeit an easy one from Jota's deflected effort, but that golden opportunity continued to elude them and the Black Cats ramped up the niggly fouls and time wasting.

The pattern was a familiar one for the dying minutes. Sunderland gave up all hope of attacking and sat in their own box. Costa had a shot...blocked, Boly had a shot...blocked...then Jota finally threaded one through the defence but his curling effort was well saved.

The pressure was ramped up in five minutes of stoppage time but that clear-cut chance never arrived and Molineux was plunged into silence at full time.

Key moments

62 – RED CARD – Two bookings in a minute from Lee Cattermole give Wolves a man advantage. The second was a late tackle which left Diogo Jota in a heap.

Line ups

Wolves (3-4-3): John Ruddy; Bennett, Coady (c), Boly; Doherty, Saiss (N'Diaye, 68), Neves, Douglas (Costa, 75); Cavaleiro; Bonatini, Jota. Subs: Norris, Batth, Price, Vinagre, Enobakhare.

Sunderland (5-4-1): Ruiter; Love (Galloway, 80), Browning, O'Shea, Wilson, Matthews; Gooch (Embleton, 90), Cattermole, Gibson, Honeyman; Grabban (Vaughan, 84). Subs: Steele, Beadling, Asoro, McGeady.

Red card: Cattermole (62)

Attendance: 28,488 (1,447 Sunderland fans)

Referee: Jeremy Simpson (Lancashire)

League position

1st (48 points from 21 matches)