Fulham 0-1 Wolves: Adama Traore’s stoppage-time stunner sinks Fulham

Free match highlights and report as Adama Traore scores first goal of the season in the last minute of stoppage time; Willian Jose had goal disallowed for marginal VAR offside in the first half; Fulham now three points behind 17th-placed Newcastle, but having played two more games

@gedbrand10

Friday 9 April 2021 22:30, UK

Adama Traore’s 93rd-minute stunner gave Wolves a 1-0 victory over Fulham to sink the Cottagers deeper into the relegation mire.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek glanced a fine chance wide of goal in the first half for Fulham, before Wolves’ Willian Jose had a header ruled out in first-half stoppage time, with VAR intervening to find Leander Dendoncker offside by a matter of centimetres in the build-up.

That call looked to have saved Fulham a point, having failed to muster up a clear-cut chance in the second half, but Traore broke in the last minute of stoppage time to score his first goal of the season, lashing home from an acute angle on the break past Alphonse Areola, who should have done better.

The result means Fulham are three points off 17th-placed Newcastle, but having played two more games, with Newcastle travelling to Burnley on Sunday, live on Sky Sports. Wolves move up to 12th on 38 points.

Player ratings

Fulham: Areola (5), Tete (6), Andersen (7), Kongolo (6), Aina (6), Lemina (6), Reed (6), Decordova-Reid (6), Loftus-Cheek (6), Robinson (7), Mitrovic (6)

Subs: Anguissa (6), Maja (6), Cavaleiro (NA)

Wolves: Patricio (6), Semedo (7), Coady (7), Saiss (7), Ait-Nouri (6), Neves (6), Dendoncker (7), Neto (5), Podence (7), Traore (7), Willian Jose (6).

Subs: Moutinho (7), Gibbs-White (7), Silva (6)

Man of the match: Conor Coady

How Wolves grabbed winner to leave Fulham desperate

Neither side registered a shot on target in the first half – in fact, Fulham and Wolves have scored just two first-half goals in their last 12 Premier League games – but chances still came at both ends.

Trending

Willian Jose glanced Nelson Semedo’s cross wide in the second minute, while at the other end, Ruben Loftus-Cheek missed a fine chance to put Fulham ahead, himself turning a Terrence Kongolo delivery wide of the far post, Fulham’s first shot after nearly half an hour.

  • Premier League table: Fulham still three points off Newcastle
  • How the teams lined up | Match stats
  • Get Sky Sports | Get a Sky Sports Pass

Wolves were forced into a personnel and formation change shortly after; Pedro Neto was replaced by Ruben Neves, prompting Nuno’s side to go from a back four to a back five, and they thought they’d had the lead just before the break following a fine move.

Conor Coady’s fine diagonal down the right flank found Semedo, who slipped in Leander Dendoncker, and his cute, lofted delivery was headed home by Willian Jose from eight yards, for what he thought was his first goal for Wolves on the 12th attempt.

However, VAR intervened, disallowing the goal for a offside on Dendoncker as he received the initial pass from Semedo, with barely a couple of centimetres in it.

The second half was somehow even more cagey than the first as both defences cancelled each other out, with neither side willing to take much of a risk to break the deadlock.

Bobby Decordova-Reid found a yard to shoot from the edge of the box, but fired wired off balance, while Antonee Robinson’s right-footed half volley from range tested Rui Patricio.

  • Live football on Sky Sports
  • Premier League fixtures | Premier League results

But Wolves broke in the last minute of the game and stunned the hosts with a goal out of nowhere. Adama Traore, criticised this season for his lack of end product after registering six goals and 13 assists last season, scored his first goal of the season after his first assist on Monday.

Team news

There were two changes for Fulham; Ademola Lookman, who didn’t recover sufficiently to be involved in the squad was replaced by Antonee Robinson, and Tosin was replaced by Terrence Kongolo in defence.

Nuno Espirito Santo named an unchanged team from the one beaten by West Brom on MNF – keeping faith with the back four he has persevered with this season despite mixed results. Joao Moutinho was fit enough for a place on the bench.

Sub Morgan Gibbs-White found Traore down the right flank, and despite beating Kongolo in the box, the Spain international had no right to score from the angle, but he lashed past Areola high at his near post to take the posts.

Questions will be asked of Areola, but more questions will be asked of Fulham over the entire 90 minutes after failing to create much against an out-of-form Wolves, with time running out in their Premier League campaign. Six games remain for Scott Parker’s side, but their hopes of staying up are firmly in Newcastle’s hands.

Opta stats

  • With his 28th shot in the Premier League this season, Wolves winger Adama Traoré netted his first goal of the season.
  • Prior to tonight, Wolves’ Adama Traoré had gone 48 Premier League matches without a goal, netting his first league goal since scoring against Manchester City in December 2019.
  • This was the second 90th-minute winning goal scored against Fulham this season, with Tomas Soucek scoring one for West Ham United in November.

What’s next?



Arsenal
Fulham





Wolverhampton Wanderers
Sheffield United


Fulham now go to Arsenal on Sunday April 18 at 1.30pm, live on Sky Sports Premier League, while Wolves host Sheffield United on April 17 at 3pm, also live on Sky Sports Premier League.

Source: Read Full Article