Wolves overpower Brentford to go twelve points clear
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 v Brentford FC 0
For football clubs and their players the festive season can be a challenging time. To begin with there is unloved fixture pressure; four games shoehorned into the time one would normally expect to play two and to which this season one could add the difficulties presented by tricky opposition. A home tie against stubborn Ipswich, followed by a friendly welcome at the New Den, followed by a top of the table clash away to Bristol City. Then there is the tension between players, who seek to fill their boots with roast potatoes, turkey and the odd glass of alcohol and their management who would rather they ate something gleaned from a Gwyneth Paltrow Cookery Book all washed down with a calonic cleansing kelp smoothie.
Adding to these tensions were Brentford, this evening’s opponents, who arrived at the Molineux on the back of a run of three successive league wins. Brentford, as you know, is a club which embraces a philosophy known as mathematical modelling - using statistics and computer programmes to pick their players. Since first writing about it two years ago, robot technology has moved on at such a pace that the prospect of Siri and Alexa running the Brentford midfield is not as preposterous as it first seemed. Of course by the time it happens, they will be playing in half filled stadia, humans having been replaced by robots and no longer possessing the means to afford the ticket price. Something to ponder, when next you settle down to that portion of mung bean sprout and falafel bake.
At least, this evening, 28,000 souls braved the wet weather to attend the first home game of the new year. And within ninety seconds they were nearly cheering a goal as Leo Bonatini struck a post following a neat move down the right. Ten minutes later Ryan Bennett had a header cleared off the line and shortly thereafter Brentford keeper Daniel Bentley thwarted Matt Doherty with a fine save. On 23 minutes Bentley was in action again, this time denying Helder Costa who should really have scored. The missed opportunities rankled all the more as Brentford gained a foothold in the game, at times outplaying Wolves with some cultured football, Ryan Woods central to much of their good play. Yet for all their pretty triangles they lacked a cutting edge a fact which was brought home when in the 38th minute Wolves produced the move of the half Ruben Neves picking out Barry Douglas with a searing cross field ball. Cushioning his first time pass, Douglas fed Diogo Jota who in one move stretched Bentley with fine volley. It would be the last real chance of the half as the sides went into the half time break on equal terms.
Within ten minutes of the restart Manager Nuno decided to ring the changes bringing on Ivan Caveleiro for the indifferent Costa. The Portuguese striker made an immediate impression upping the tempo considerably. But it was from a dead ball rather than open play that Wolves opened their account when in the 56 minute a well struck free kick by Neves gave Bentley no chance. Within two minutes Wolves had added a second, Douglas finishing emphatically following a low Cavaleiro cross from the right. Then in the 79th minute Jota put icing on the cake when he scrambled home a third from a Cavaleiro corner.
The goal was Wolves fiftieth of the season and the win takes them twelve points clear of second placed Derby. Twelve months ago they found themselves in mid table obscurity. What a difference a year makes.
Wolves: Ruddy 6, Bennett 6, Coady 6, Boly 7 Sub Hause, Doherty 7, Douglas 8, Saiss 6, Neves 8, Jota 7 Sub Enobakhari, Costa 5 Sub Cavaleiro 7, Bonatini 6
Brentford: Bentley 8, Yennaris 6, Mapham 6, Bjelland 7, Barbet 6 Sub Clarke, Woods 8, Mokotjo 6, Canos 6 Sub Jozefzoon, Sawyers 6, Watkins 6, Vibe 6 Sub Maupet
Attendance: 28, 475
Referee: Andy Madley 10
©Mark Brennand