Gary O'Neil lauds star Wolves player with “unbelievable” natural talent

Cunha’s maiden Premier League treble stunned Chelsea, as Wolves defeated them 4-2 on home soil to claim a first victory at Stamford Bridge since 1979.

Wolves completed the double over the Blues in the league for the first time in 49 years to climb into the top half of the table for the first time this season.

Cunha took just two minutes to cancel out Cole Palmer’s 20th-minute opener, and completed his hat-trick with two more in the second half.

Pedro Neto, who was equally sublime, laid on his second assist of the afternoon to set-up Cunha to apply a classy finish for his brace just past the hour.

Chelsea defender Malo Gusto then clumsily chopped Cunha down inside the box, as he kept his composure from the spot to score his first hat-trick for any club since his spell in Switzerland at FC Sion in 2018.

The Brazilian international simultaneously extended his season tally to 11 goals, which is the most he has scored in a single campaign during his career.

O’Neil has hailed his humbleness and willingness to succeed and improve as key factors behind his stellar form.

“Incredible. We’ve spoke a lot around how talented and incredibly humble he is,” the Wolves boss said.

“He came and saw me on Friday morning fairly early after the Manchester United game to have a chat about a few things around the game, his game and where the team was because he’s a great guy. He wants to improve and wants to understand.

“All we’ve managed to do really is change an unbelievably-talented footballer into an unbelievably-talented footballer that has a really good understanding tactically now of what the team needs from him, and how important little things can be.

“The positions that he takes up can cause teams problems. He deserves huge credit. A Premier League hat-trick, especially at Stamford Bridge is one to remember. I am sure he enjoyed it.”

Wolves’ victory over Chelsea came less than 72 hours after an emotionally and physically-draining defeat in Thursday night’s seven-goal thriller against Manchester United at Molineux.

O’Neil made three changes from midweek with Ait-Nouri, Joao Gomes and Pablo Sarabia replacing Matt Doherty, Tommy Doyle and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde. Ait-Nouri provided Wolves with an injection of energy down the left, and Gomes was composure personified in the centre of the park.

O’Neil also revealed that he was aware of the historic value that a win at Stamford Bridge would have, and was pleased with how his players recovered from the physical and mental toll of midweek. “I am really pleased. Pleased for the fans, pleased for the players,” O’Neil continued. “They’ve worked really hard since we walked off at the final whistle against Manchester United to be ready for today.

“The lads deserve an awful lot of credit. Physically to be able to put in that performance, emotionally to be able to recover from that setback on Thursday.

“It was a fantastic win and I was aware of the 1979 statistic. I saw something around it this morning so I am delighted that we got to share another memorable afternoon with an incredible fan base.”