Wolves 1 Brighton 4 - Report

In Gary O’Neil’s first home game in charge, and the first Molineux fixture of the 2023/24 season, the Seagulls took control early on and made it 1-0 through a magnificent Kaoru Mitoma goal.

Wolves had two huge chances through Fabio Silva and Rayan Ait-Nouri, which they failed to convert, but continued to have a poor and disjointed first half.

It took Brighton just 45 seconds of the second half to make it 2-0 through Pervis Estupinan, before a Solly March double within four minutes of each other made it 4-0, which prompted boos around Molineux.

Hwang Hee-chan netted Wolves’ first goal of the season with a header, but it proved nothing more than a consolation as O’Neil’s side suffered back-to-back defeats.

Analysis

Gary O’Neil made one change as Wolves lined-up in a 4-4-2 formation.

Silva came in as Pablo Sarabia made the bench, with Daniel Podence and Jonny Castro Otto still omitted from the squad.

Roberto De Zerbi made three changes to his Brighton side, who started in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Jan Paul van Hecke, Mahmoud Dahoud and Joao Pedro dropped to the bench, as Adam Webster, Billy Gilmour and Julio Enciso started.

With Fosun chairman Guo Guangchang in attendance, and Wolves chairman Jeff Shi back in the country and also at Molineux, Wolves thought they got off the perfect start when Silva slotted home, but he was rightly adjudged to be offside.

Wolves failed to build on that however, and made a poor start where they struggled for control of the game. Then, after 15 minutes, Brighton took the lead. An incredible solo run saw Mitoma open the Wolves defence up with ease and slot beyond Jose Sa. The winger danced past Nelson Semedo, Craig Dawson and Max Kilman for the goal.

The hosts grew into the game and began to see more of the ball and had a big chance to equalise when Matheus Cunha played Silva through on goal, but the striker saw his effort saved by Jason Steele. Estupinan was playing Silva onside and with that huge chance, he should have scored.

Although Wolves still had little control over the game, another huge chance followed when Ait-Nouri was played through. The angle was slightly tighter on the left, but he should have at least hit the target, as he blazed his effort over the bar.

Brighton dominated the closing stages of the half with some dangerous crosses but failed to add to their 1-0 lead, as the teams entered half-time.

Once the game restarted, it took Brighton just 45 minutes to double their lead. Danny Welbeck was played through and had his shot saved by Sa, but as it fell to Mitoma who played an intelligent pass to Estupinan who fired into the bottom corner.

Wolves were all over the place in defence and by the 52nd minute, Brighton had a third. A long ball caught out the ponderous Dawson and Enciso raced down the left flank before crossing for March to fire into the roof of the net.

Moments later, that same combination saw March add his second and Brighton’s fourth, as loud boos rang around Molineux from the home fans.

With Wolves looking for a way back into the game, Mario Lemina hit the crossbar before Cunha did the same shortly after. From the resulting corner, Wolves got a goal back when substitute Hwang headed across goal from the far post and saw his effort find the bottom corner.

Wolves created some chances in the minutes that followed but failed to put Steele under any real pressure, to the frustration of the home fans.

The supporters were even angrier when Ait-Nouri failed to pull the trigger with a golden chance, and instead lost the ball.

In the dying minutes of the game, Matheus Nunes was given a second yellow card for needlessly pushing Estupinan to the floor, reducing Wolves to 10 men.

Woeful Wolves whimpered as the game came to an end, and a 4-1 defeat was met with loud jeers from the home fans.

Key Moments

15 GOAL Mitoma scores

46 GOAL Estupinan makes it 2-0

51 GOAL March scores from close range

55 GOAL March makes it 4-0

61 GOAL Hwang gets one back for Wolves

90+5 RED CARD Nunes is sent off

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Dawson (Toti, 71), Kilman, Ait-Nouri (Bueno, 86), Nunes, Lemina, Gomes (Sarabia, 55), Neto, Cunha, Silva (Hwang, 55).

Subs not used: Bentley, Doherty, Traore, Hodge, Kalajdzic.

Brighton: Steele, Milner (Veltman, 56), Webster, Dunk, Estupinan, Gross (Dahoud, 80), Gilmour, March, Enciso (Ferguson, 66), Mitoma (Lallana, 80), Welbeck (Pedro, 56).