Brentford 1-4 Wolves: Hwang Hee-Chan scores first half brace to secure win for Gary O’Neil’s side

Six defeats in their last seven in the Premier League. Four on the jump. Brentford are in trouble, and we'll struggle to find a player having a worse night against his former employers this season than Nathan Collins here.

Collins was directly responsible for two of Wolves' four goals on a night when Thomas Frank longed for the comfort of previous seasons. Brentford have been looking at home in the Premier League since their promotion in 2021, but now they are looking down rather than up.

Mario Lemina opened the scoring before Hwang Hee-Chan helped himself to two goals, one of which came after Collins' back pass failed to reach the intended target. Collins then lost the ball again in front of his own penalty area as Jean-Ricner Bellegarde completed the scoring late on.

Frank stood in his equipment room, chewing gum and with his arms crossed thinking about how he could get his team out of the mess they're in.

Only Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland had scored more goals with their left foot than Brentford's own left-handed striker Bryan Mbeumo. However, Mbeumo will miss three months after ankle surgery and was one of nine players not available for Frank here.

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Frank's dwindling options prompted the classic pre-January transfer cry, when he named two goalkeepers to his substitutes' bench, along with a number of academy talents.

Sensing a vulnerability in a team that had lost five of their last six Premier League matches, Wolves immediately went for the kill and took the lead in the 13th minute.

Pablo Sarabia's cross from the left begged to be buried and Lemina did not disappoint his teammate as he headed home unmarked, following up on the opener he scored against Chelsea on Christmas Eve.

Wolves supporters were still celebrating the 1-0 scoreline when it became 2-0 when Hwang ran the ball into an empty net 12 seconds after Brentford's restart.

Collins' back pass was too short as Hwang got to the ball ahead of Mark Flokken. Collins stared at the ground hoping it would swallow him up and had given his former club a freebie.

But Frank's team got back into the game when Neal Maupay's ball over the top ended up at Yoane Wissa. Played onside by Santiago Bueno, he made it 2-1 after 16 minutes.

Brentford came close to an equalizer after 18 minutes, but Vitaly Janelt's header went straight at Jose Sa. Instead it became 3-1 when Collins lost possession with a forward pass.

Toti headed the ball back where it came when Hwang tipped it over Ethan Pinnock's head before beating Fleken. It was a goal to reflect his confidence this season, but he needed a substitution when his back hit the ground after an innocent duel.

Before half-time, Wissa's cutback gave Maupay a chance to score, but the forward who came on for Mbeumo lacked composure as he fired wide.

At the start of the second half, Wissa pulled the ball back for Keane Lewis-Potter, but he couldn't get enough of it and it was an easy grab for Sa. We thought this would cause a sudden wave of attacks for Brentford, but Wolves built a wall to stop them.

The visitors are winless in their last fourteen Premier League trips to London. They were not used to defending such a lead and seemed determined to do so here as the away fans chanted Gary O'Neil's name repeatedly.

Matheus Cunha had scored four goals in his last seven away games in the Premier League, the most since Raul Jimenez was in his prime for Wolves. After 75 minutes, Cunha hit the post from a counter-attack.

But the scoring was completed in the 79th minute when Collins again lost possession in his own half. Cunha took on Bellegarde, who came in as Brentford fans left early.