In what could yet be a tight relegation battle, Wolves were left to rue two minutes of dozing off at the start of each half to gift Fulham victory. Ryan Sessegnon scored in the opening minute of the match and Rodrigo Muniz fell just short of replicating the feat after the break to boost their European hopes, while the hosts blew the chance to move eight points clear of the drop zone.
Vítor Pereira’s side were worthy of more but they set their own downfall by not paying sufficient attention after kick-offs and being wasteful in front of goal, apart from João Gomes’s consolation.
Wolves had 18 shots but only five hit the target, while Fulham were efficient when opportunities arose to move two points off fifth and a potential Champions League spot.
Pereira, the Wolves head coach, said: “Today I am frustrated because after three days playing again, starting the first half conceding a very easy goal. Our level of concentration and focus was not at the right level. When you start the second half in the same way, it is very difficult.
“In the second half I felt the team was tired, the movement and pressing was not what we are used to. When they started with the subs, they have a lot of solutions in the squad and for us it is not the case.”
In response to Fulham’s weekend home defeat, Marco Silva made five changes to his side. One of those was a first Premier League start in more than two years for Sessegnon.
If there were any concerns about the wing‑back being rusty, they were allayed in the first minute. Two other fresh players combined as Muniz did well to hold up the ball on the halfway line before finding Andreas Pereira. The forward slid a pass through for Sessegnon to run on to in space on the left wing; he saw José Sá coming, but slotted into the far corner for his first goal since October 2022.
“He’s a lovely boy and the last two, three years, they were really tough for him,” Silva said of Sessegnon.
“A player that started at 16 years old in high level and I think all of us that we are here and probably everybody that loves football in this country, recognising that moment that he’s going to have an amazing career because he was a top, top, top talent and sometimes football is not always like that. Let’s hope the future is going to be bright for him again.”
It was a frustrating start for Wolves after the positivity of their win against Bournemouth. Molineux was effectively silenced and needed something from the home team to enliven the mood, and Matheus Cunha is more often than not the man to provide it. Fulham knew this and paid him close attention but, after winning a free‑kick from Issa Diop, the Brazilian then left the defender in a spin as the home fans sensed their team were on top.
Proof of Wolves’ quality was provided in the 18th minute when Jean-Ricner Bellegarde produced a fine cross from the left, which ricocheted into the path of Gomes. The midfielder thrashed home from close range, before running off to celebrate and urged the Wolves faithful to up the decibels. The noise grew but the hosts failed to use the momentum to their advantage.
Wolves, it transpires, start halves of football slowly. A whopping 62 seconds after the break, Fulham were back ahead. Adama Traoré played the ball between the home defence and Muniz made a clever run to reach the pass first and dink the ball over Sá, to leave everyone in gold seeking hair to pull out.
From that point on possession was dominated by Wolves. They were happy to knock it side-to-side in search of a fissure that might become a crack but the Fulham defence were disciplined, forcing them out wide and Cunha could not provide the same spark as earlier. Questions were posed by crosses into the box but without an obvious Wolves aerial threat, until Jørgen Strand Larsen came off the bench, the three Fulham centre-backs were happy to deal with what came their way.
Silva was able to send out some of those rested players to close out the match. It felt like a missed opportunity for Wolves as they began a crucial run of fixtures. In their next four games Everton and West Ham visit Molineux, mixed with trips to two teams in the relegation zone, Southampton and Ipswich. They have the chance to make amends but have increased the pressure on themselves.
