When so many have doubted him, Gary O’Neil fights on. While Wolves have Matheus Cunha to hand and in such devastating form there will always be hope of redemption.
The Brazilian’s display, featuring two fine finishes and an adept assist, made it two Wolves wins in succession, catching Fulham cold and then killing them off with a spectacular strike.
“I love working with him,” said the Wolves manager. “There’s no limit to where he can go. You don’t get to work with too many players of that quality. I love the challenge of pushing him.”
An injury-time goal from Gonçalo Guedes completed a rout few saw coming, though all season, even when Wolves struggled for results, there have been vital signs of quality and talent. This took them out of the relegation zone.
After breaking their duck by beating Southampton, and surviving the international break that can be deadly for managers, O’Neil’s employment prospects, bleak for much of the season, are far more positive. “I told the players to make sure we enjoyed this,” he said. He declared his Craven Cottage coup as his favourite afternoon as Wolves head coach. “Someday, I’m sure I’ll be moved on, but it definitely won’t be through losing the players.”
Marco Silva’s team flickered only briefly. “A strange game,” he said, bemoaning the “chances we created” and the “way we handled their goals”. They failed to overturn a desperate record coming off international breaks. Having previously won two such matches under Silva that tawdry sequence continued.
With Storm Bert’s headwinds whipping off the Thames, Wolves initially looked ragged only to master Fulham’s forwards. O’Neil is attempting to remodel, adding flair in goalscorer João Gomes, using Mario Lemina as a deep-lying controller while reaping the benefits of Cunha’s incendiary form by giving him freedom to express himself.
“His performance out of possession was the best I have seen from him,” said O’Neil, lavishing praise on his star man and supporting cast. “The players deserve a lot of credit, they’ve never shown any cracks, regardless of the noise around.”
Such liberalism comes at the cost of the grit associated with O’Neil. Here were signs of the moral courage required to thrive in the Premier League, personifying their manager. Matching up Fulham was risky, but they appeared fuller of flair and should have been ahead earlier than they were. Raúl Jiménez, struggling against his former club, rattled a post after Antonee Robinson’s overlap.
No immediate problem, for Fulham. Kenny Tete’s pass found Alex Iwobi and granted space, José Sá was beaten by a searing finish.
About Wolves individual’s flair: O’Neil’s exhortations for his team to press harder and higher drew Fulham upfield and Lemina’s playmaking abilities were shown off by a pearling ball from the halfway line, using the wind to fade into Cunha. The control was exemplary, the finish just as good for a 13th away goal since the start of last season, a record bettered only by Erling Haaland.
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That was enough shock and awe from a first half that ebbed away. The second period began with similar torpor before Fulham found themselves again caught unawares. Cunha, zipping around with intent, stabbed a pass to Gomes, whose low, skidding drive caught out Bernd Leno.
Stunned into action, Fulham attempted a revival. Another Robinson overlap might have set up Iwobi, only for Rayan Aït-Nouri to come to the rescue. Harry Wilson, lately in goalscoring form, rattled the crossbar, the ineffective Emile Smith Rowe having been replaced.
Wolves did not seek to sit on their advantage. Instead, they put Fulham, down to 10 men after Joachim Anderson had departed with all subs made, fully to the sword. Cunha saved his best for near last, finding space outside the box to beat Leno with a beauty.
“Everyone knows how important he is to us,” said O’Neil. “But it’s also important to recognise the work he’s put in. This isn’t the Matheus that arrived at Wolves 18 months ago.”
To complete a job that had O’Neil gleaming throughout his post-match duties, the hulking centre-forward Jørgen Strand Larsen, a nuisance all afternoon, laid up Guedes. Wolves could celebrate like a team full of belief and vitality for the fight ahead.
