Express & Star

Wolves 0 Brentford 2 - Report

Christian Norgaard and Ivan Toney scored in either half as Brentford condemned Wolves to a 2-0 defeat against Brentford at Molineux.

Published
Last updated

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565

Norgaard was left unmarked to head in Sergio Reguillon's corner 10 minutes before the break, and Toney killed the contest with a second in the 77th minute.

Craig Dawson had a goal ruled out for a tight offside call just after the break following a tight offside call, whilst Pedro Neto hit the post with Wolves' closest chance.

Wolves have lost back-to-back home games in the Premier League following their 4-3 loss against Manchester United last month.

Gary O'Neil went unchanged following last weekend's memorable triumph at Stamford Bridge, but Hwang Hee-chan was not involved in the squad after picking up a calf issue in training yesterday.

Wolves generated two early sighters as a result of the high-press, although Rayan Ait-Nouri was unable to keep his shot down from the edge of the box, and Mark Flekken produced a smart save to deny Matheus Cunha.

Jose Sa also had a couple of shaky moments in the first half. The Portugal international failed to find Mario Lemina with his pass and Brentford quickly intercepted to find Neal Maupay, who was foiled one-on-one by Sa.

The Wolves goalkeeper redeemed himself again with a smart save to thwart Maupay's header from the resulting corner. A flat start was compounded by the sight of Wolves' joint-leading scorer and last weekend's hat-trick hero Cunha limping off the pitch in the 20th minute.

Brentford threatened an opener with Nathan Collins unable to scramble a low cross over the line at the back post, before Mads Roerslev blasted over the loose ball. Another poor pass from Sa presented Maupay with another chance but his eventual finish was tame.

The deadlock breaker eventually came when Christian Norgaard ran into the six-yard box unopposed to nod Sergio Reguilon's perfectly floated corner beyond Sa 10 minutes before the break.

Neto came close to a leveller on the cusp of half-time but his header from Pablo Sarabia's clipped cross was impressively saved by Flekken at his near post.

O'Neil switched to a back-four at the break and Wolves started the second half brightly with Neto crashing a low deflected effort against the base of the post.

Wolves had a goal disallowed for offside five minutes after the restart following a lengthy VAR check. Neto floated a dangerous ball into the penalty area and Dawson got across the front of his marker to glance his header beyond the reach of Flekken.

Neto stung the palms of Flekken with another chance but Brentford wrapped up the game when Toney showcased his predatory instincts inside the box after a quiet afternoon.

Brentford's second stemmed from a mix-up at the back as Dawson gave the ball away cheaply inside his own half. The Bees eventually worked the ball out to the left and Toney escaped his marker to meet a low delivery with a composed side-footed finish into the bottom corner.

Thomas Frank introduced an extra defender with Kristoffer Ajer coming on for the closing stages to see Brentford over the line.

Teams

Wolves (3-4-2-1): Sa; Kilman, Dawson, Toti (Fraser 46); Semedo (Doherty 83), Lemina, Gomes (Doyle 64), Ait-Nouri; Sarabia, Cunha (Bellegarde 20); Neto.

Subs not used: Bentley, S Bueno, H Bueno, Traore, Chirewa.

Brentford (3-5-2): Flekken; Collins, Pinnock, Mee; Roerslev, Jensen (Yarmoliuk 69), Norgaard (Ajer 85), Janelt (Baptiste 85), Reguilon; Toney, Maupay (Lewis-Potter 77).

Subs not used: Strakosha, Zanka, Ghoddos, Damsgaard.

Referee: Simon Hooper