Wolves hit the snooze button, and Brighton made them pay
You can’t take a day off in the Premier League.
That’s the lesson Wolves learned Saturday as they were obliterated 6-0 by Brighton. Denis Undav, Pascal Gross, and Danny Welbeck all notched braces as the high-flying Seagulls underlined their credentials for a spot in Europe next season.
It’s not like this one got away from Wolves after a while, either. They started poorly and fell behind just six minutes in, with Undav tapping in after Welbeck flicked Joël Veltman’s low cross past a flat-footed Wolves defense.
Seven minutes later, things got worse for the visitors as Brighton doubled their lead. Wolves walked right into where Brighton wanted them, with Roberto De Zerbi’s side forcing a turnover and breaking away at speed from midfield. Gross eventually provided the finish after an inch-perfect pass from Julio Enciso.
It should have been a cue for Wolves to wake up and join the game, but they collectively hit the snooze button. In the 26th minute, they paid the price as Gross turned an iffy first touch into a sumptuous volley past José Sá to make it 3-0.
As this one flew by, the Wolves goalkeeper may have started to realize that he was looking at a very long day at the office.
Welbeck would make it 4-0 after yet another Wolves turnover saw Brighton flood the box with runners for Pervis Estupiñán to pick out.
Halftime should have been a moment to make some changes and save some face. Wolves started the day with just 29 goals on the season, so no one was expecting a comeback, but simply performing a bit better would have at least shown some character.
And on one hand, the next goal wasn’t the result of a Wolves turnover. That’s progress, right?
On the other, Wolves made a triple sub and set up in a super compact 5-4-1, and Brighton just walked the ball up the middle anyway. One of those new faces, Nathan Collins, intervened to prevent Undav from walking in on goal alone, but his clearance attempt only succeeded in setting Welbeck up to fizz a 22-yard shot past Sá.
There was still time for one more insult for traveling Wolves fans, as another disaster in possession ended with Brighton capitalizing on a turnover. This may have been the worst giveaway of the bunch: Brighton forced a long back-pass from midfield, and Sá waited for them to try to press, hoping in vain for some spaces to play through.
He moved the ball to Matheus Nunes, who did not in fact play through any spaces, with Undav eventually dinking the ball over Sá after Brighton relieved Wolves of the ball.
“We are sorry a lot for our fans,” Wolves coach Julen Lopetegui told the BBC. “Today we had a very bad day in all the situations. We suffered very early, one goal, two goals. When you have this kind of day, the responsibility is [on] the coach.”
On the Brighton side of the coin, De Zerbi was understandably a bit more chipper.
“The best game as a coach,” De Zerbi told BBC Radio 5 before praising his team for their character more than their execution.
“We make a mistake if we think only of style, of quality of play. Today we show our quality as a person, as [men], because we suffered a lot against Man United in the [FA Cup] semi-final. We suffered a lot after enduring the Nottingham Forest game, and today I think the people can understand the level of my players in terms of human quality… I am very happy. I am delighted for the level of my guys.”
Impact on the table
For Brighton, the win lifts them within two points of Tottenham in fifth place, and they’re very much in the four-team battle for that Europa League spot. In fact, with a game in hand on the rest of that group, the Seagulls may be the unlikely favorites.
Wolves, meanwhile, remain eight points clear of the relegation zone, and realistically they’re probably safe whether or not they take points in any of their remaining games. Being so thoroughly humiliated will not help them one bit, though, and may be the kind of thing that sees ownership consider Julen Lopetegui’s position this summer.
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