Wolves Fans' Verdict v Sheffield United: An ugly win

Clive Smith

We won, job done. We’ve played better and lost so we’ll take an ugly win once in a while. Usually scoring the first goal in these sort of games is the key.

We started well enough, on the front foot, passing with pace but not able to find the decisive pass where it matters the most.

I don’t recall us being as fluid with our formation before. Neto, mainly on the left, but also popping up on the right, Ait-Nouri finding himself in all corners of the pitch at times. Sarabia drifting left and right while Lemina was breaking into the opposition box as much as anyone. Semedo was charging forward like he has been regularly.

Ironically it left us vulnerable to the counter-attack but Sheffield United lacked finishing quality when they did manage to break free of Toti and Dawson.

Clear openings were scarce but after half an hour we made the break through. A somewhat unlikely source too – Sarabia’s flicked header from an Ait-Nouri cross. Who expected that combination to come up trumps?

Unfortunately, scoring first didn’t prove to be the game-changer we hoped and the second half didn’t pan out the way we hoped. Maybe Sheff Utd’s need was that much greater. In the first half we’d always had several men in the box to get on the end of crosses this was less apparent as the game progressed.

Had a handball decision, on the hour, used the Gomes/Luton benchmark, and we’d scored the penalty, then we could all have relaxed. As it was however, not sure if it was the nervy crowd who affected the players or the other way round. Our early fluency had become more scrappy and haphazard.

Less 50-50 tackles were going our way and more of the game was played in our half. We had opportunities on the break but failed to test the keeper more than once. Sheffield’s main threat came from long throw-ins.

Sarabia gets MOTM while Lemina and Gomes were excellent again. Toti also had a strong performance. Neto just failed with the final ball. The biggest disappointment was probably Hwang who, particularly in the first half when we played our best, didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength as his colleagues.

We hung on, with a rare clean sheet, and have 38 points, just three short of our total last season.

8th ! We’re ‘avin a larf, ay we.

Rob Cartwright

An awful game; probably the worst we’ve seen this season, but it’s the result that counts and these three points are just as big as the three won at Tottenham last weekend.