Wolves 2-1 Fulham: Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo strike in second-half to boost European hopes of Gary O’Neil’s men… with Alex Iwobi grabbing late consolation for visitors
- Ait-Nouri shot the ball in before Semedo’s deflected shot made it 2-0
- Iwobi pulled one back in stoppage time with a clever improvised finish
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Fulham came within inches of ending a 39-year winless league record at Molineux on several occasions, but a fighting 2-1 win sent Gary O’Neil’s Wolves into eighth place.
The hosts had flying backs Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo to thank, both defenders scoring in the second half after Pedro Neto limped off the pitch and headed straight into the tunnel just before half-time.
Fulham forced Jose Sa into two big stops late in the match but despite a late strike from Alex Iwobi, the hosts held firm and have now equaled their 2022-2023 points tally. What a job O’Neil continues to do.
By half-time it was difficult to understand that Fulham were not ahead.
On 24 minutes, Harry Wilson somehow missed when he was one-on-one with Sa, before Tosin Adarabioyo rattled off the bar from ten yards out ten minutes later.
Rayan Ait-Nouri fired the ball in after Toti Gomes’ pullback to give Wolves the lead
Nelson Semedo’s shot took a big deflection off Tom Cairney and beat Fulham keeper Bernd Leno
Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi pulled one back in stoppage time with a clever improvised finish
Wolves struggled to get Pablo Sarabia and Neto involved early on, but still managed to ask some questions.
Ait-Nouri needed no encouragement to fly down the left in attack, and Mario Lemina provided a relentless drive through the middle in an impressive performance from both ends.
A frustrating half ended in every Wolves fan’s nightmare with Neto limping straight through the tunnel, while Jean-Ricner Bellegarde exited the game after just eleven minutes.
O’Neil showed his tactical elasticity by switching to a back three after Neto’s injury, and within seven second half minutes his side were ahead.
After a late challenge from Harrison Reed on the edge of the penalty area, Wolves put the set-piece into the back post, Toti found Ait-Nouri and the Algerian defender found the roof of the net from close range, a fully deserved strike. for the entire back.
As good as Ait-Nouri’s goal was, his fellow full-back’s second came with quite a bit of luck.
Joao Gomes got his heels into Semedo’s path for the defender to sidestep from the edge of the box, a diving Leno outwitted by a poor deflection as Wolves doubled the lead.
Fulham fought back and forced a fantastic double save from Sa with 10 minutes on the clock before Iwobi bundled the ball home from close range in added time to score a goal that the visitors deserved for their collective late push, but the hosts held on. to keep their unlikely European impulse alive