Wolves left firing blanks

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 v Sunderland 0

It is five years since Wolves last played Sunderland when both clubs were plying their trade in the Premier League. Via divergent paths they now find themselves in the Championship albeit bookending the division with the Old Gold looking down from a considerable height on their opponents. Thus was the midweek talk of how this game could present a banana skin, one on which Wolves have a record of treading, Saturday 16th March 2002 being a case in point. On that etched in the memory date Wolves were riding high, some twelve points clear of West Bromwich Albion (in third spot) when Grimsby rolled into town. The Mariners were bottom of the Championship but left with an unlikely 1-0 win, a victory which presaged the choke of all chokes as Wolves were overhauled by their fierce rivals, subsequently going out to Bolton in the first round of the play-offs. Would the events of Saturday 9th December, 2017 be of a similar magnitude?

The answer, in short, is not quite. In fairness to Wolves they were never in trouble but neither did they trouble ten man Sunderland who were reduced to that number in minute 62 when Lee Catamole was given a red card following a heavy challenge on Diogo Jota. The statistics told the story. Wolves had 72% of the possession from which they fashioned 23 attempts on goal but only four of those were on target. Indeed it took 86 minutes before Sunderland keeper Ruiter was tested, Jota’s left foot strike being parried to safety.

Chris Coleman, Sunderland’s recently appointed manager, came to Molineux with a none too ambitious plan; to place ten men behind the ball and hope to catch Wolves on the counter. In regard to the former it worked, less so the latter as Sunderland managed one attempt on goal that coming in the 64th minute. Wolves prompted by the excellent Ruben Neves were always ahead in terms of their invention. It was just a shame that neither Ivan Cavaleiro or Diogo Jota possessed their A game, too many good positions being squandered by a final ball which failed to pick out a gold shirt. And the longer the game remained goalless the more you felt that it was not going to be Wolves’ day.

But it is a sign of where the side is that we can be so sanguine. On another day Wolves could have had three.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Ruddy 6, Elliot 6, Coady 6, Boly 7, Doherty 6, Douglas 6 Sub Costa, Saiss 6 Sub N’Diaye, Neves 9, Jota 7, Bonatini 6 Sub Costa, Cavaleiro 6

Sunderland FC: Ruiter 7, Love 6 Sub Galloway, O’Shea 7, Browning 6, Wilson 6, Matthews 6, Gooch 6 Sub Embleton, Catermole 6 Sent off, Gibson 6, Honeyman 6, Grabban 7 Sub Vaughan

Attendance: 28,488

Referee: Jeremy Simpson 8

©Mark Brennand