Chris Iwelumo remained the talk of Molineux with his second brace inside four days as Wolves ended Sheffield Wednesday’s brief reign as Coca-Cola Championship leaders.Wednesday had high hopes of building on their opening-day trouncing of Burnley when they struck through Etienne Esajas in the 14th minute.
But poor defending ultimately saw them on the receiving end of the same 4-1 scoreline by which they had won seven days earlier.
“Chris Iwelumo is the striker I’ve been seeking for the past two seasons,” said Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, whose side have now scored nine goals in three league and cup games.
“He has been a revelation about the place and had to play after his goals in midweek.
“We play with two wingers who are a threat to anybody on our own pitch and I am delighted everything has settled down so quickly.
“Andy Keogh was unlucky to be left out today but I’ve told the players not to fall out with their peers when they don’t start.
“I’m the big-nosed sod who picks the team, so they should fall out with me and support each other.
Visiting manager Brian Laws was disappointed to lose after his side travelled full of confidence.
“We came here with confidence from the first day and that was clear to see the way we played in the first half,” he said.
“We created plenty of chances. But it was completely different in the second half and the game plan fell apart. Wolves could smell that one or two had given up and that was criminal.
“It won’t happen again, that’s for sure. That second-half performance wasn’t good enough and it showed our frailties that we had no-one on the bench to improve things.”
Despite an early header by Matt Jarvis that was well saved by Lee Grant, it looked good for the Owls when poor defending allowed Esajas to cut inside from Deon Burton’s pass and score with a low left-foot shot.
The Dutchman, having scored his first Championship goal to go with his midweek two in the Carling Cup, did not reappear for the second half because of a hamstring problem.
And by then Wolves, who lost skipper Jody Craddock to a foot injury, were level after Iwelumo steered in a fine downward header from Kevin Foley’s 28th minute cross.
Michael Kightly had a deflected shot brilliantly saved by Grant, who was beaten by Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s driven penalty nine minutes after the interval following Sean McAllister’s clumsy trip on the impressive Jarvis.
Wolves were soon in firmer control as Kightly’s terrific run and shot following Ebanks-Blake’s pass was thwarted by the post, only for Iwelumo to turn in the rebound.
The 6ft 4in striker, signed for £400,000 from Charlton in the summer, was inches away from a hat-trick when Jarvis’ cross-shot just eluded him and the far post.
But the scoring was rounded off in stoppage time as Wednesday were having defender Robert Hinds stretchered off to hospital with an ankle injury, Ebanks-Blake putting substitute and ex-Shrewsbury ace David Edwards clear for a neat left-foot finish.
MATCH FACTS:
Wolves: Hennessey, Foley, Stearman, Craddock (Collins 7), Elokobi, Kightly (Edwards 86), David Jones, Henry, Jarvis (Keogh 75), Ebanks-Blake, Iwelumo. Subs Not Used: Ikeme, Vokes. Booked: David Jones. Goals: Iwelumo 28, Ebanks-Blake 54 pen, Iwelumo 59, Edwards 90.
Sheff Wed: Grant, Hinds, Beevers, Wood, Spurr, McAllister, Watson (Smith 68), O’Connor, Esajas (Clarke 46), Johnson (Boden 69), Burton. Subs Not Used: O’Donnell, Gilbert. Goals: Esajas 15.
Attendance: 22,491
Referee: M Jones (Mansfield).
Share this article:
What are these?