Carabao Cup: Wolves 2 Preston 1 - Report

The hosts dominated proceedings in the first half with a comfortable display. In defence they were untroubled and in attack they looked dangerous as Championship side Preston were pinned in their own half.

It only took eight minutes for Wolves to take a deserved lead when Raul Jimenez finished from close range after a flowing move, before donning some pirate attire for his celebration.

After a comfortable but slightly less exciting period, Adama Traore burst the game back into life with a spectacular volley from 20 yards that flew into the top corner in front of a delighted North Bank.

On the stroke of half-time Wolves should have silenced any doubters when Hwang Hee-chan was bundled over in the box and he picked himself off the turf to take the penalty. However, a terrible and scuffed spot-kick meant it was easily saved.

Wolves looked to be ruing that missed opportunity as a slow start to the second half saw Preston score within just three minutes through Ben Woodburn.

The visitors created some more chances, too, and put Wolves under some pressure as they enjoyed some momentum.

Wolves eventually found their feet again and came close from a handful of set pieces before holding on to their lead and securing a place in the next round.

Bruno Lage made six changes following the league defeat to Spurs, but still named a strong team, and stuck with the 4-3-3 formation.

Nelson Semedo and Jimenez made their first starts since recovering from injuries, while Matheus Nunes made his first Molineux appearance.

Matija Sarkic also started in goal for his senior Wolves debut.

Willy Boly was left out of the squad, after Wolves recently rejected a bid of £1million from Nottingham Forest, while Yerson Mosquera and Connor Ronan were also not involved after playing for the under-21s the night before.

Preston lined up in a 3-5-2 formation under manager Ryan Lowe.

Goalkeeper David Cornell made his first start for the club, while Matthew Olosunde made his first appearance of the season.

Within two minutes Wolves forced Cornell into a strong save. Nunes did superbly well to dart towards goal and feed Jimenez, who turned on the edge of the box and curled a lovely effort that needed save.

Wolves were dominating possession in the early stages as Preston sat back in their defensive shape, and it took just eight minutes for the hosts to take the lead. Max Kilman, who was captain for the evening, played a delightful pass to release Ait-Nouri down the left flank. He raced into the box and put the ball on a plate for Jimenez to finish from close range at the back post.

Moments later, Wolves almost replicated the goal on the opposite flank when Traore fed Semedo, but his cross was cleared by Patrick Bauer with Jimenez lurking.

It was all very comfortable for Wolves after 25 minutes as Preston offered very little threat and the hosts retained possession with ease. All they needed was an injection of pace to add another goal, and Hwang almost gave it to them with a handful of impressive bursts forward.

Jimenez should have scored his second when he met a dinked Traore pass but headed straight at the goalkeeper.

However, in the next attack Wolves did make it 2-0. A one-two between Traore and Semedo saw the former receive the ball on the volley and smashing a scorching shot into the top corner with his left foot.

Wolves continued to make it look easy and almost found a third when Traore found space and cut inside on his left foot again, only to shoot wide.

On the stroke of half-time Hwang was brought down in the box for a penalty and the forward stepped up to take it. However, the South Korean scuffed his effort and it was an easy save for Cornell.

That was the last action of the half as Wolves entered the break with a deserved lead.

Despite having such a dominant first half, it took only three minutes for Preston to get a goal back in the second half. Poor defending from Wolves allowed Woodburn to drift across goal and find the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

All of a sudden the momentum was with the visitors as they kept the ball in search of an equaliser. A flick from Emil Riis was directed towards goal, but Sarkic was equal to it.

Wolves began to wake up after a slow start to the half and Kilman forced Cornell into a strong save after he met Ait-Nouri's corner with a powerful header. From a separate corner, Nathan Collins headed just over from close range.

Preston still posed a threat, however, and a huge chance saw substitute Brad Potts come sliding in at the far post unmarked but hit the side netting with his effort.

Goncalo Guedes was inches away from settling Wolves’ nerves, but the team had to settle for a 2-1 win as they saw out the victory in less than convincing style.

Wolves: Sarkic, Semedo (Jonny, 79), Collins, Kilman, Ait-Nouri, Nunes, Moutinho, Dendoncker (Neves, 62), Traore (Neto, 62), Jimenez (Podence, 86), Hwang (Guedes, 62).

Subs not used: Smith, Bueno, Gomes, Cundle.

Preston: Cornell, Storey, Bauer, Cunningham, Olosunde (Browne, 45), McCann (Leigh, 86), Whiteman, Woodburn (Potts, 79), Johnson (Slater, 86), Riis, Evans (Parrott, 79)

Subs not used: Woodman, Lindsay, Amaral, O’Neill.