Burnley 2 Wolves 0 – Report and pictures

Burnley took the lead inside 90 seconds when the unmarked Chris Wood rounded Rui Patricio and his shot hit the post and ricocheted in off a sliding Conor Coady for an own goal.

Wolves improved after the break but spurned their best chance when Ivan Cavaleiro lashed over and Burnley doubled their lead via a rare attack when Dwight McNeil drove a low shot in from 20 yards.

Analysis

We should have seen this coming

The deadly combination of a match after an international break against a team in the bottom five of the table spelt danger loud and clear – and Wolves succumbed to a disappointing defeat, writes Tim Spiers at Turf Moor.

Burnley began the day in 17th position after a torrid season.

With their final four fixtures looking incredibly difficult on paper, they will have targeted this match as a crucial one to their survival hopes.

So what's the one thing you don't want to offer to a motivated team fighting for their Premier League future in front of a passionate and vociferous home crowd? Well, gift them a goal after 90 seconds would be right up there, but that's exactly what Wolves did.

Thereafter they, apart from a productive spell shortly after half-time, never fully recovered. Their usual fluency and potency was absent and they sorely missed the benched Raul Jimenez.

His introduction in the second half helped Wolves' cause but by then Burnley had the bit between their teeth. They threw their bodies at every cross and through ball, they sat in deep and defended for their lives. There was no way through and a second goal then killed the match.

Victory, with Watford losing at Manchester United, would have seen Wolves tighten their grip on seventh.

Defeat has opened the door to the likes of Leicester and West Ham in a tightening race to be the best of the rest.

Did Wolves have an eye on next week's semi-final? Only the players can answer that, but another below-par performance against Manchester United on Tuesday will not be tolerated by Nuno.

Match report

After the international break and with three games in a week in mind, Nuno rested both Raul Jimenez and Matt Doherty who dropped to the bench.

Adama Traore started at right wing-back and Ivan Cavaleiro was up front alongside Diogo Jota, with Romain Saiss continuing in defence in the absence of the suspended Ryan Bennett.

Burnley lined up as expected. Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes were up front for a struggling and relegation-threatened team who came into the game on the back on the back of four successive defeats.

Wolves will have been hoping for an early goal to subdue a motivated side in dire need of a win – but instead they criminally handed the initiative to the hosts who scored inside 90 seconds.

Wood wasn't picked up from a left-sided free-kick, the striker rounded a stranded Rui Patricio and sidefooted goalwards – the ball hit the post and ricocheted into the net off Conor Coady who was sliding to try and clear it on the line.

It was dreadful defending and the worst possible start for Nuno's team.

The goal rocked them in the opening stages, with Wolves' usual assuredness on the ball absent as they struggled to move upfield.

From another free-kick the hosts wanted a penalty as Barnes tangled with Willy Boly and went down, but the pair were both grappling each other and referee Chris Kavanagh was unmoved, before Phil Bardsley fired wide from range.

Barnes was then the subject of another penalty decision at the other end – Jonny Castro Otto fired a shot from range and Barnes appeared to block it with his hand, albeit from point blank range and with his hand by his leg. Wolves' players screamed for a penalty to no avail.

Nuno's team improved as the half went on, with Traore the main outlet down the right flank. The Spaniard was full of attacking intent but, with no Jimenez in the middle, his crosses towards the likes of Jonny and Diogo Jota were meat and drink to a tall Burnley back-line.

Wolves' best route to goal was via scampering runs from deep. Jota and Cavaleiro began to link nicely, while Otto was a menacing presence on the left, but again the end product was lacking with the best move coming when Cavaleiro turned and slipped a pass through the defence for Jota who couldn't get there ahead of keeper Tom Heaton.

Patricio had nothing else to do for the rest of the half with Burnley happy to sit in and fight for their lead. Wolves sorely missed the focal point of Jimenez in what was an underwhelming half of little goalmouth action or fluid football.

Nuno elected not to change things up at half-time but saw an improvement from his team, who twice went close in the first five minutes after the restart.

Traore raced forward from deep into the heart of the Burnley half and played to Jota on the left – his ambitious curling shot from a narrow angle dropped just wide of the far post.

Then Leander Dendoncker galloped down the right, beating a despairing Ben Mee slide and getting to the byline – he looked up and picked out Cavaleiro, 12 yards out, but he blazed over the bar from a superb position.

Traore had the beating of Charlie Taylor down the right. Another cross almost dropped perfectly for Jota from eight yards but James Tarkowski made a crucial block.

Wolves were doing all the attacking but with no goal on the cards Nuno sent for the cavalry on 59 minutes, specifically Jimenez and Doherty who replaced Dendoncker and Cavaleiro as Nuno switched to 3-4-3 with Jota and Traore either side of Jimenez and Doherty and Jonny on the flanks.

With more than an hour gone neither team had managed to register a shot on target in what was a low-quality encounter.

Wolves were probing away and trying to get in down the flanks, but with Burnley happy to sit in they were proving a tough nut to crack with Mee and Tarkowski dominant in the air.

After a rare Burnley attack from which Boly made a crucial clearance, Nuno made his third change with Helder Costa coming on for Traore. Otto then got up well to head a Moutinho cross goalwards for Wolves' first attempt on target, but Heaton saved.

The visitors continued to attack but the a vociferous and passionate home crowd urged their team forward – they did so to devastating effect to kill the game off.

Dwight McNeil edged forward towards the box as Saiss backed off and then drilled a low drive into the corner to make it 2-0 and lift the roof off Turf Moor.

Wolves tried to respond – Moutinho whipped a cross to Doherty who headed over at the back post – but there was no way through and Burnley saw out the remaining minutes with relative ease.

It meant Sean Dyche's 300th game in charge of Burnley finished exactly the same as his first – a 2-0 home win over Wolves.

Key moments

02 - Goal! Burnley take a swift lead. Wood escapes the offside trap to latch onto McNeil's free-kick, rounds a stranded Patricio and sees his shot hit the post, but the ball goes into the net via Coady as he tries to block. Own goal.

22 - Wolves make a massive penalty appeal for handball as Otto's half-volley cannons off Barnes. Several old gold shirts surround the referee, but he is not interested, insisting Barnes' arm was in a natural position.

49 - Cavaleiro wastes a glorious opportunity! Dendoncker races past a despairing Mee on the right flank, gets to the byline and plays it to Cavaleiro, who blazes well over the bar from inside the box.

55 - Another chance for Wolves. Clarets full-back Taylor is being given the runaround. Traore takes him on with ease, and his cross ends up at the feet of Jota, whose strike is blocked by Tarkowski.

77 - Goal! Wolves' toothlessness in front of goal comes back to haunt them as the Clarets convert their second opening of the afternoon. McNeil takes his time before finding the far corner with his left foot. Game over.

Teams

Burnley (4-4-2): Heaton (c); Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Hendrick, Cork, Westwood, McNeil (Gudmundsson, 86); Barnes, Wood

Subs not used: Hart (gk), Lowton, Gibson, Ward, Brady, Vydra

Goals: Coady (OG 2), McNeil (77)

Wolves (3-5-2): Patricio; Saiss, Coady (c), Boly; Traore (Costa, 71), Neves, Dendoncker (Doherty, 59), Moutinho, Otto; Cavaleiro (Jimenez, 59), Jota

Subs not used: Ruddy (gk), Kilman, Vinagre, Gibbs-White

Goals: sdf

Attendance: sdf

Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)

League position

7th (44 points from 31 matches)

Next up

Wolves are back at Molineux on Tuesday when they host Manchester United, kick off 7.45pm.