PLAYER RATINGS AND REPORT BY KARL WHITEHOUSE
Matija Sarkic – 6
Forced into early saves in the match when Leeds were delivering crosses into the box and kept them out with good saves, he needs to control his box better for corners.
Jonny – 6
Didn’t do too much in the game did runs on the wing and stayed back in defence when needed but injury near the end of the game is a concern.
Nathan Collins – 8 (Player of the match)
Solid in the centre half position kept the ball well blocking shots and clearances solid performance and help setup the winning goal with a good pass to Podence and helped keep a clean sheet for the team.
Maximilian Kilman – 8
Solid in possession and positioning well for corners and clearances didn’t put a foot wrong and helped keep a clean sheet for the team.
Rayan Ait Nouri – 7
Did some good runs into the box to cause Leeds problems and played well kept to his job in the position he plays and played his part in the clean sheet.
Ruben Neves - 6.5
Had a chance with a free kick but didn’t trouble the goalkeeper, was showing his leadership skills on and off the field motivating the players.
Connor Ronan – 7
Solid performance from him making his debut for Wolves in 1,920 days which was against Yeovil Town in August 2017 provided good crosses and passes to team mates.
Joseph Hodge – 7
Solid performance did a good job in midfield with good passing and looked comfortable in his performance, didn’t put a foot wrong.
Adama Traore - 6.5
Tried his best with his runs through the Leeds, defence, he got knocked off the ball a few times should have had a free kick but nothing given. Start of 2nd half he had a free role and put crosses in but nobody there to connect.
Goncalo Guedes - 6.5
Not his best game had a chance and slipped over a few times but did well.
Hwang Hee Chan - 6
Had a few chances in the game and he tried his best to control the ball got marked tight by the Leeds players.
SUBSTITUTES
Joao Moutinho 6
Cameo role played well for the time he was on the pitch kept the ball well nothing too serious.
Daniel Podence 6.5
Made a difference to team coming on gave it some extra pace in the side and supplied the pass for the only goal of the game.
Boubacar Traore 7.5
Solid performance made the midfield good with his passes and scored a beauty of a goal to win the game for the team.
Chem Campbell 6
Nothing much mentioned had a chance to score a goal for team and was offside by a mile but will get there in time.
Dexter Lembikisa n/a
Came on for Jonny who was injured making his first team debut for the club nothing much to do just keep his place and the rest of the clean sheet for the team.
first half
With an eye on the visit of league leaders Arsenal to Molineux on Saturday, Steve Davis made six changes to his Wolves side from the one which faced Brighton at home just days earlier and gave a first start to under-21 captain Joe Hodge.
It was a frantic start in the game as Leeds piled pressure on the Wolves defence with a number of deliveries sent into the Wolves box. Matija Sarkic made a save at full stretch after Jack Harrison’s on target free-kick took a slight deflection on its way towards goal.
Sarkic was brought into action with a good double save. Ruben Neves took a free-kick which flew inches wide of Joel Robles’ upright shortly after Guedes was fouled while making a run towards goal.
Wolves started to grow into the game and grow in confidence. Hwang had a chance at a aerobatic shot and then Adama Traore had a shot when played into space with the Leeds defence leaving gaps but his shot went across the goal wide of the post.
Wolves were inches away from taking the lead approaching half time when Guedes hit a shot from 25 yards but his effort was wide of the right post.
Half Time Wolves 0 Leeds United 0
second half
Wolves started the second half as they ended the first half well on top of the opposition with runs down the pitch. Guedes set Kilman up for a chance but his effort was blocked by Robles.
Ait Nouri was the next person to try and setup a goal on the left hand side, curling a perfect ball for Ronan with the ball heading towards the top corner Robles put out a big hand to palm the ball away.
Leeds turn to have a go at Sarkic’s goal where Harrison tried to a curl a shot from the edge of the box but the header was narrowly wide of the goal.
Both teams started to look to the bench to see who they can bring on to win this game of football heading into the final quarter of the game.
Wolves had already made 4 subs in this game before making an enforced 5th sub with as Jonny went down clutching his hamstring and Lembikisa was the only option to come on making his debut for 1st team.
Then 5 minutes from the end of the 90minutes the goal came. Collins won the ball on the right passed it to Podence who cut the ball back to Boubacar Traore on the edge of the area hitting a first time shot into the top corner of the net to send Wolves into the lead.
This was a hard fought win for Wolves who played well and are now into the fourth round of the league cup for first time since 2019/2020 season. It was nice to see Wolves playing youngsters in tonight’s game and gives a confidence boost for the next game at the weekend against Arsenal.
Full Time Wolves 1 Leeds United 0
ARTICLE BY KARL WHITEHOUSE
I am a Wolves fan been for over 30 years where
I have supported them both home and away games in the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s and now like looking into wolves games the stats behind the games they play in the premier league and also look other stats if asked by someone else in the podcast. I have also done the 92 football league grounds and shortly be doing a ebook about peoples favourite match they went to along with a match report and if possible stats from game.