Wolves’ early slips punished by Fulham’s Sessegnon and Muniz

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 hand 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 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.

In response to Saturday’s home defeat by Crystal Palace, 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, who 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.

It was a frustrating start for Wolves after the positivity of beating 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. André and Gomes missed good chances as Fulham were put under pressure.

Proof of Wolves’ quality was provided in the 19th 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.

While Fulham looked disjointed, potentially on account of the squad rotation, Wolves were a coherent unit with Cunha at its apex. The Wolves No 10 was keeping the referee, Peter Bankes, as busy as Diop, as the defender struggled to cope with the trickery and speed of the Brazilian, who was impressed his opponent was not being booked for his multiple fouls. Stopping him was the remit of the final barrier, as Bernd Leno was forced to tip over a rising shot from a tight angle.

Rodrigo Muniz fires in Fulham’s winner. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters

Fulham were trying to play on the counter and, with the threat of Adama Traoré and Sessegnon, it was easy to understand why. Sá was left relatively untroubled before the break, with the visitor’s second best chance falling to Muniz but his shot was blocked by Santiago Bueno.

Wolves, it transpires, start halves of football slowly. A whopping 62 seconds after the break, Fulham were back ahead. 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.

With the stands dormant once more, Wolves had to seek a way back into a match they had dominated apart from two major lapses in concentration. Naturally, it was Cunha who dragged his side forward, flashing a shot wide from the edge of the box and then earning a free-kick from Sander Berge 20 yards from goal. The Norwegian was booked for his indiscretion but that was the worst of the punishment as Bellegarde first hit the ball and then the gleeful arms of Leno.

Possession was dominated from that point on 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. 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 games. In their next four games Everton and West Ham visit Molineux, mixed in with trips to two teams in the relegation zone, Southampton and Ipswich. Wolves have the chance to make amends but they have increased the pressure on themselves.