Wolves 1 Burnley 0 - Report
Hwang Hee-chan's ninth goal of the season was enough to earn Wolves all three points at home to Burnley.
In what was a dreadful game under the lights, Hwang’s tidy first half finish separated the sides.
Wolves improved in the second half but failed to capitalise on their chances, as they saw out the narrow win amid freezing temperatures in Wolverhampton.
Analysis
Gary O’Neil made four changes from the team that lost at Arsenal, as he stuck with the 5-3-2 formation.
Jose Sa was deemed unfit for the fixture, meaning Dan Bentley was handed his first league start of the season and third choice goalkeeper Tom King made the bench.
Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes returned from suspension and came in for Tommy Doyle and Boubacar Traore, while Pablo Sarabia replaced Jean-Ricner Bellegarde for his first Premier League start since September 3.
Of the three under-21 players to make the bench at Arsenal, Tawanda Chirewa was the only one to keep his place.
An incredibly quiet opening 15 minutes saw Wolves dominate possession but do very little with it, while Burnley were happy to sit in their defensive shape.
It almost burst into life when Sarabia had a deflected shot tipped over the bar by James Trafford, before moments later the Spaniard saw another effort fly wide.
Burnley had the occasional break forward and ambitious effort on goal, but they rarely threatened in what was a poor game of football.
A terrible Gomes mistake then handed Burnley possession and Bentley pulled off a sensational double save. He first stopped Jay Rodriguez’s effort from close range before turning Josh Brownhill’s shot around the post.
Wolves finally took the lead just before half-time when they pressed Burnley high and won the ball back. Sarabia latched onto it, played it to Matheus Cunha, who then put the ball on a plate for Hwang to finish into the bottom corner.
The hosts took their slim lead into the half-time break.
As the teams emerged for the second half, Wolves made a much better half and looked sharper in attack and with more pace in their play, as they looked for the second goal.
They came close to that second when Sarabia whipped in a cross and found Craig Dawson free at the back post. His first time effort flashed across goal and was begging for a tap in at the far post.
Sarabia then had a good free-kick tipped over the bar by Trafford, before Vitinho fired over for the visitors.
Wolves spurred more chances to pull the trigger and find a second as they eventually settled for a slim 1-0 win.
Key Moments
GOAL 42 Hwang gives Wolves the lead
Teams
Wolves: Bentley, Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Toti, H.Bueno (Doherty, 90), Lemina, Gomes, Sarabia (Bellegarde, 78), Hwang, Cunha (Traore, 86).
Subs not used: King, S.Bueno, Doyle, Chirewa, Silva, Kalajdzic.
Burnley: Trafford, Vitinho (Odobert, 91), O’Shea, Ekdal (Redmond, 91), Taylor, Berge, Brownhill, Amdouni, Keleosho (Gudmundsson, 35), Larsen (Tresor, 70), Rodriguez.
Subs not used: Muric, Zakoury, Al Dakhil, Delcroix, Ramsay.
