Express & Star

Steve Bull: Matheus Nunes' goal reminded me of Marco van Basten’s famous strike

Last week’s performance against Chelsea was one of the best I’ve seen from Wolves in a very long time.

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Wolverhampton Wanderers' Matheus Nunes

The gameplan was excellent, we had the work rate to go with it and what can you say about the winning goal?

For me, it was the best scored at Molineux since Ruben Neves against Derby. It reminded me of Marco van Basten’s famous strike for Holland in the 1988 European Championships.

You could tell what it meant to Matheus Nunes by the look on his face. He probably wanted to do about 10 laps of the pitch in celebration. If he isn’t buzzing with confidence after scoring a goal like that, then he never will be.

The key for Nunes and Wolves, of course, is backing it up against Brentford today.

We’ve been here before, after previous wins over Liverpool and Tottenham, when the opportunity felt there to push on and put some serious distance between ourselves and the bottom three.

We didn’t take it. I don’t think there many would have looked at our fixture list and predicted we’d beat three of the Big Six and lose to Bournemouth and Leeds.

There is another chance now to pull that bit more clear and with Leicester going to Manchester City and Nottingham Forest facing Manchester United, this weekend has the potential to be pivotal. Whatever the result tomorrow, there will still be work for Wolves to do in order to be safe. But we’d all be breathing a bit easier if we can open the gap even further.

Speaking to people around the city this week has underlined just how much it all means.

If Wolves were to fall out of the Premier League it is not just about the manager, the players or even the supporters. There are a lot of hard-working staff at the club who would be affected, along with businesses who benefit from the club being in the top flight and the crowds coming in on matchday.

The players must realise they are part of something much bigger. Hopefully after today we will again have smiles on our faces and a larger gap to the bottom three.