Brentford 1 Wolves 4 - Report

Coming into the fixture having not won in the last 14 Premier League games in the capital and the game transformed during three remarkable minutes.

Mario Lemina headed Wolves ahead before Hwang Hee-chan made it 2-0 after a major Brentford error from their own kick-off by former Wolves defender Nathan Collins.

In an action packed 180 seconds, Yoane Wissa then turned home for the hosts.

Once the game settled down and 12 minutes after Wissa’s strike, Hwang added a second to restore Wolves’ two-goal lead.

The second half saw less action as Brentford took control, but Wolves defended well before finding a fourth through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde to secure all three points, following another Collins mistake.

Analysis

Gary O’Neil made one change as he stuck with the 5-2-3 formation.

Craig Dawson missed out with injury and Santi Bueno came in for just his second league start, while Wolves’ bench was boosted by the return of Joe Hodge, Bellegarde and Pedro Neto.

At the first sign of danger, after Brentford worked the ball nicely down the left flank, Toti Gomes did well with a headed clearance with Wissa lurking at the back post.

The game then burst into life within three incredible minutes that saw three goals. The first came for Wolves in the 13th minute when Pablo Sarabia’s incredible cross found Lemina with a free header from five yards, which he buried.

Instantly from Brentford’s kick-off, former Wolves defender Collins saw a poor pass back to Mark Flekken intercepted by Hwang, who rounded the goalkeeper and tapped home.

With Wolves into a 2-0 lead from nowhere, they then let it slip when a nice flick-on found Wissa, who finished beyond Jose Sa.

In a hectic few minutes, Brentford then should have equalised when Keane Lewis-Potter had a free header at the back post, but directed it straight at Sa.

Once the game settled, Wolves regained some possession and calmed down the home side, as they looked to hold onto their lead.

But in the 28th minute they increased their lead with another bizarre goal. Collins’ long ball saw Toti win a header and incredibly it split the Bees’ defence and found Hwang, who superbly flicked the ball over a defender and found the bottom corner.

The hosts had another decent chance when Mads Roerslev came in at the back post, but Toti did enough to put him off.

Collins then had a free header following a Brentford free-kick, but he nodded over the bar in a major let-off for Wolves.

Wolves then suffered a blow when Hwang came off with a back injury and was replaced by Bellegarde in the dying minutes of the first half.

Brentford then had a late chance for a goal when Wissa squared the ball to Neal Maupay, but his effort flashed wide.

An incredibly open and bizarre first half came to an end with Wolves leading 3-1.

Brentford had an early chance in the second half but a weak Lewis-Potter shot was collected by Sa.

The hosts had made a better start to the half as Wolves lacked any real control and relied on last-ditch defending.

Despite that, the travelling supporters were fully behind their side as they loudly cheered in support of the team and O’Neil.

Brentford remained in control of the game but Wolves were doing a good job of defending in their shape and slowing down the action, as the clocked ticked beyond 70 minutes.

Against the run of play, Matheus Cunha then took on Ethan Pinnock and hit the post with his effort.

Wolves were then handed a fourth goal thanks to another Collins error. His pass was straight to Cunha, who carried it forward and squared to Bellegarde, who calmly finished.

Wolves were purring and almost had a fifth when Bellegarde had an effort saved.

Key Moments

GOAL 13 Lemina heads Wolves ahead

GOAL 14 Hwang makes it 2-0

GOAL 16 Wissa gets a goal back for the hosts

GOAL 28 Hwang gets his second and Wolves’ third

GOAL 79 Bellegarde makes it 4-1

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo (Doherty, 65), Kilman, S.Bueno, Toti, Ait-Nouri (H.Bueno, 80), Lemina, Gomes, Sarabia (Doyle, 65), Hwang (Bellegarde, 45+7), Cunha.

Subs not used: Bentley, Hodge, Chirewa, Neto, Kalajdzic.

Brentford: Flekken, Roerslev (Jensen, 67), Collins, Pinnock, Janelt, Ghoddos, Norgaard, Yormoliuk (Damsgaard, 45), Lewis-Potter (Peart-Harris, 85), Maupay, Wissa (Olakigbe, 85).

Subs not used: Angelini, Strokosha, Zanka, Adedokun, Brierley.