Wolves Fans' Verdict v Brighton: Long-awaited win against the Seagulls
Our Wolves supporters share their thoughts on the last game without fans at Molineux – the 2-1 win against Brighton.
Clive Smith
The Goldstone, Withdean, Amex and Molineux have never provided much joy for us against Brighton. Half an hour in, a predictable goal, and we could have been three goals down. Our confidence looked shot. Our bogey team had turned up again. It looked like it might be a repeat of the last home game nightmare.
Half time could not come quickly enough. Nuno gave a pep talk, took his coat off and we were good to go. We needed a break and having started the half brightly we got one.
Vitinha recognised a Silva run and a delightful through-ball saw Brighton reduced to ten men.
The tone of the game changed, Wolves went on the front foot as Brighton tried to hold onto what they had. Surprisingly it took nearly ten minutes for Nuno to get Traore on and our favourite game-changer did not disappoint.
We showed more belief and urgency. Our two full-backs, Ait-Nouri and Hoever, with less defensive responsibilities, could play almost entirely in midfield. Hoever, Moutinho and Traore in particular frequently combined.
Our downfall was our crossing. Too often Hoever hit the first defender while our corners.... well, not for the first time this season, they left a lot to be desired. A rare sight, a neat one-two on the edge of the box, and a clinical finish by Traore brought us level. Our tails were up, this was fun to watch.
Then, with time running out, the chance to be a hero part one fell to Gibbs-White. Traore laid it on a plate for him. Thousands of screams from living rooms far and wide suggested something along the lines of you and I could have scored that.
Thankfully for all concerned, be a hero part two arrived and, at long last, Gibbs-White scored what proved to be the winner. We all want him to do well and Nuno has shown lots of faith in him. Let's hope his Wolves career can go up a level from now on.
Overall, four at the back again provided oceans of space for the opposition to be all over us. Better goalscorers would surely have been out of sight by the interval. Ait-Nouri continues to impress with his attacking in each game. Vitinha was quiet while Neves struggles to find any form as does Podence. Traore certainly helped turn the game our way but Silva deserved MOTM. His work rate was impressive and he frequently made runs, like the one for the red card, that went unrewarded.
Rob Cartwright
I was really pleased to see plenty of younger players starting, resulting in our youngest Premier League team in almost 12 years.
Wolves started playing very positively, dominating possession and moving the ball quickly. A good opening 12 minutes was spoiled by more woeful defending from set pieces. It was Brighton’s first attempt on goal when Dunk headed in from the corner. He would become the villain in the second half.
How Neves was chosen to mark Dunk is anyone’s guess. Maybe Podence was to get up onto his shoulders too!
Following the goal, Wolves lost confidence and allowed Brighton to dictate the game.
I was particularly disappointed with Neves and Moutinho who were not leading their younger colleagues into better forward positions. Neves in particular was guilty of too many passes going astray.
We started the second half well and when Vitinha played Silva through on goal an equaliser beckoned. Donk pulled him back for a straight red card. Wolves could now smell blood.
Nuno made two good subs with Traore replacing Neves and Jose on for Podence.
Traore had an immediate impact and imposed himself down the right wing using the space of the extra man to good effect. Jose had great chance to score, but for a poor first touch.
The most frustrating thing was the persistence with short corners, which in the main appeared wasted.
Traore continued to look dangerous and scored following a lovely move. Vitinha to Traore, one-two with Silva, to equalise on 76 minutes. There was still time to win.
Traore had the chance to score again, on 84 minutes. Why, oh why, did he pass to Gibbs-White who skied the easiest of chances from 12 yards.
There was still time and patient approach play led to a winner when Ait-Nouri crossed into a packed box and this time Gibbs-White kept a cool head to place his shot beyond the reach of their keeper.
On the balance of play, a deserved win.
The game-changer was Traore. Although he played only 30 minutes, he gets man of the match. Vitinha did well again and Hoever had a good second half.
Gibbs-White had his best game for Wolves and Silva is looking more and more the striker we hoped he would become.
John Lalley
Regardless of the deficiencies of this performance; and palpably there were many, right now I couldn’t care less.
I’ve been heartily sick of watching Wolves make a perennial pig’s ear of it against Brighton and to finally nail this frustrating bogey is both overdue and deeply satisfying.
Ingrained in the memory is the relegation game in Sussex under Dean Saunders; the disconnect between supporters and players was of such colossal proportions that a couple of individuals who hardly distinguished themselves in Wolves’ colours couldn’t give their shirts away to apoplectic travelling supporters. One of the most depressing trips ever.
We’ve got some issues at Molineux right now but times are a whole lot better than in those dark days!
We started this game well enough but it was a mirage; Dunk as he had at the AMEX exposed our alarming aerial frailty and we spent the rest of the half struggling hopelessly to make even minimal impact.
No pace, no fluency, no options due to lack of movement and mobility and a general all-round apathy of simply going through the motions.
Tackling these days is a dying art; for Wolves it seems to be already extinct. We were incapable of putting a foot in, Brighton won almost every challenge and in comparison, we appeared thoroughly lightweight.
Rarely can a team have produced such a relentless repertoire of how to waste corner kicks. Crosses, especially from the right flank were universally dreadful and we appeared absolutely bereft of ideas.
Until Dunk made his second intervention in this game, this time to our advantage and his cynicism was to prove massively influential.
Say what you like about Traore’s fallibilities but without him on the pitch, our attacking options barely exist.
He induced uncertainty, linked beautifully with Fabio to strike a super equaliser and presented a potential winner on a plate for Gibbs-White.
That Brighton finally cracked was in good measure the result of Traore’s influence. All credit to Gibbs-White for shrugging off that dire miss too; what a lovely finish and what a pleasant ultimate feeling despite all the numerous shortcomings!
Russ Evers
At last. The hoodoo is gone. We have finally beaten Brighton at home. No more Peter Ward hat-trick ghosts to lay!
Overall, such a young side I thought played really well with everyone doing their bit and managing the game extremely well.
Gibbs-White always seemed to want the ball and make himself available and had the self-belief to have another go for the last-minute winner even after a better chance had come and gone a couple of minutes earlier.
Kilman gave the assured performance I think we all know he can do and Hoever looked an absolute chasm above Semedo defensively.
Moutinho had support and was back to his best relegating Neves to do the dirty work which he did well. Traore did his work superbly when coming on and looked like the player we need him to be.
All in all a step towards getting back to the feeling from watching the team for the last three or four years, and even the weather was kind for us outdoor pub garden watchers. The Duke of York (The Tap) did not have to provide blankets or umbrellas this week!