Those in the Sir Jack Hayward Stand summed up quite how unusual it was. “We’ve scored a goal,” chorused the Wolves fans and, for the first time in 371 minutes of football and more than six weeks, they had. On a day that was supposed to be Julen Lopetegui’s introduction to life at Molineux, they had something else to celebrate. They scored.
Not in open play, admittedly, and only because of a handball that went undetected before a penalty was awarded and the returning Ruben Neves struck. It was only against the bottom side, and Nottingham Forest ought to have equalised in similar style, with Jose Sa required to save Brennan Johnson’s spot-kick. But Wolves had just their second win of the season and one lifelong fan had more reasons to enjoy it than most.
Instead of having a Europa League-winning manager who took charge of Real Madrid and Spain, they had a League Two promotion-winning manager from his time at Crewe but, half a century after he first watched Wolves, the caretaker Steve Davis guided them to a victory that took them out of the relegation zone. As their managerial hunt appeared concentrated on Lopetegui, who turned the job down, they linger in limbo, a miscalculation in the boardroom meaning they have an interim in charge for a potentially pivotal week that features meetings with Crystal Palace and Leicester.
The problem for whoever succeeds Bruno Lage – and it is unlikely it will be Nuno Espirito Santo – is Wolves’ chronic impotence. Neves’ spot kick was just their fourth league goal of the season; it means Wolves now have as many at Molineux as Manchester City do. The previous time they found the net, Nadhim Zahawi was still Chancellor of the Exchequer and Diego Costa was still unemployed.
Costa, admittedly, was an immobile spectator for most of his home debut, limited to 12 touches as the game took place around him. Wolves’ lack of goals from their specialist strikers is a chronic concern but Davis at least prospered through the width on either flank. That it came courtesy of a winger and a full-back respectively showed it was a lopsided shape, but Traore and Rayan Ait-Nouri were their two liveliest performers, exploiting Forest’s narrowness.
Ait-Nouri headed a Traore cross onto the roof of the net, fizzed a shot wide and angled a low cross that just need the sliding Costa or Matheus Nunes to supply the finishing touch. Traore’s crossing can be erratic but a player Lage largely discarded picked out Max Kilman when he headed onto the foot of the post.
As Traore is notorious for his lack of goals, a penalty felt like the most realistic outcome from one of his shots. Harry Toffolo was given a torrid time by Wolves’ resident roadrunner and a corner had been awarded when Traore’s shot struck him. After an intervention from VAR, it was determined it had hit the left-back’s hand and Neves drilled in the resulting spot-kick. It was Wolves’ first attempt on target and there was only to be one more: given Forest’s limitations, the numbers are further indications of their own ineffectiveness where it matters most. Dean Henderson had conceded to shots from outside the box in his seven previous games, an unwanted Premier League record, and a disproportionate number of Wolves’ efforts tend to come from long range, but that run ended.
Yet in seeking to be solid, Forest, who were camped behind the ball, had precious little threat. Emmanuel Dennis was quiet and, perhaps predictably, Morgan Gibbs-White was derided as a waste of money by the home faithful on his first return to Molineux. After a couple of wayward shots, there was little to suggest he will be worth a potential £42.5m fee.
But Forest seemed reprieved by a man signed with the proceeds of his sale. Nunes arrived for £38m after being described by Pep Guardiola as one of the best players in the world, but his has been an underwhelming start to life in England and it seemed to get worse when he dragged Ryan Yates down. Referee Thomas Bramall was again sent to the monitor by the VAR Lee Mason, and gave a second spot-kick. But Sa guessed right and denied Johnson to condemn Forest to a sixth defeat in seven matches.
The save was all the finer as Sa has been playing with a broken wrist for two months. “He’s only got one hand,” sang the Wolves supporters. One hand was all he needed, and one goal was enough for Wolves.
