Flock of seagull frustrate Wolves

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 v Brighton Hove Albion 0

It is just over five years since Chris Hughton’s tenure at Norwich City was brought to an end by Delia Smith, a club chairman more acquainted with the blade of a bread knife than a metaphorical severing of a livelihood. Though the inevitable payoff will have spared Hughton from having to move the weekly shop from Waitrose to ASDA, the severing will nonetheless have stung. Failure is rarely uplifting. But it didn’t take long for him to be reacquainted with the carousel of full time football management when Championship Club Brighton & Hove Albion offered him a perch on the Recaro seats of the dugout at the Falmer Stadium. In his first season he stabilised the club before, in his second, taking them to the playoffs where they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League. In his third they gained promotion automatically, since when they have managed to retain their place in the league. But, with all due respect to Des Lynam, Brighton & Hove Albion is not a big club lacking the pedigree of other clubs in similarly sized cities. So attracting marquee signings was always going to present a challenge and as a consequence, for all of Hughton’s undoubted abilities as a coach, of late the Club has entered trapdoor territory – a fate which, in fairness, could attach itself to fifty percent of the clubs in the Premier League. Defeats against Bournemouth and fellow relegation strugglers Cardiff had put the scaffold erecters on stand bye and raised the pressure on Hughton. Would a visit to Molineux add to his woes?

The answer, in a word, is no. Brighton came with one outcome in mind which was not to lose and that is what they achieved. Yet, despite the lack of goals, the game did not lack for entertainment Wolves dominating possession and creating chances. In the first half Diogo Jota went close on the half hour when he fired a low strike across the goalmouth. Then with the half nearly done his instinctive prod from a deflected Ruben Neves shot hit the top of the bar.

The pattern of the first half was repeated in the second, Joao Moutinho offering a master class in distribution. But for all their probing Wolves had to wait until the 73rd minute to create their best chance of the game, when Jota’s glancing header from a Jiminez cross hit an upright. As the ball rebounded back across the box it was met by Leander Dendoncker whose effort was smothered by a brilliant save from Mat Ryan in the Brighton goal. Had that chance gone in I felt the floodgates would have opened. But it was not to be as the Seagulls held on to claim a point and with it a temporary closing of the trap door that had been welcoming them.

So, for Wolves, an afternoon of frustration. For Hughton, relief an outcome over which I cannot get too exercised. The Brighton boss is an honourable soul and deserves to survive.

Wolves: Patricio 6, Bennett 6, Coady 7, Boly 7, Doherty 7 Sub Traore, Castro Otto 6 Sub Vinagre, Neves 8, Moutinho 9, Gibbs White 7 Sub Dendoncker, Jota 7, Jimenez 6

Brighton & Hove Albion: Ryan 8, Bruno 6 Sub Bernardo, Duffy 7, Dunk 7, Bong 7, Gross 6, Stevens 6, Propper 5 Sub Kayal 7, March 7, Murray 6, Izquierdo 6

Attendance: 31,096

Referee: Craig Pawson 10

©Mark Brennand