Wolves 0 Huddersfield 2 – report

Huddersfield took an early lead when Aaron Mooy sidefooted home from 18 yards and Wolves barely created a chance in a dreadful first half.

Raul Jimenez's header was cleared off the line after the break and soon after Mooy's free kick sealed the points on a miserable day for Nuno Espirito Santo's team.

Analysis

International football has got a lot to answer for.

First of all, Wolves contrived to produce yet another insipid display after an international break, mirroring the performance and result against Watford last month, writes Tim Spiers at Molineux.

Secondly, were it not for Frank Lampard's goal that never was back in 2010, goal-line technology may never have come to pass – and Raul Jimenez's header would surely have been a Wolves equaliser.

Make no mistake, Wolves deserved absolutely nothing from this game. They were remarkably poor, for a team that possesses such quality.

But with the scoreline at 1-0, they did at least make a resurgent start to the second half and looked to have equalised when Jimenez met Traore's cross with a simple header towards goal – it looked in, but Philip Billing's tremendous clearance kept 1.8cm – yes 1.8cm – of the ball on the wrong side of the line, so no goal.

Who knows what may have happened had that gone in, but what did transpire was a most 'un-Wolves-like' surrender as impressive Huddersfield, shortly after Jimenez fluffed his lines when through on goal, began attacking again and soon made it 2-0.

The Terriers were everything Wolves should have been – they were vibrant, positive and confidence. They also had a game plan which they enacted perfectly, nullifying the threat of Neves and Moutinho in what's becoming a concerning recurring theme.

Not one player, except Conor Coady who produced a couple of inspiring sliding tackles, did himself justice here.

Ivan Cavaleiro had a big off day, Matt Doherty didn't look himself (especially for Huddersfield's first goal), there was barely anything decent in the final third and not even Morgan Gibbs-White couldn't produce some inspiration from the bench as in recent weeks.

It was turgid, dire stuff. Wolves were booed off for the first time in absolutely ages and Friday's trip to Cardiff now looks like a pretty big game.

Nuno's team are winless in five games – it's not time to panic, only two weeks ago they outplayed Arsenal, but Nuno has to ask some serious questions of his players and himself to stop this becoming an alarming rut and an inevitable slide down the table.

Match report

Nuno made one change from the team that drew 1-1 at Arsenal two weeks ago and it was entirely as expected, with Ruben Vinagre making his first league start for 11 months in place of the injured Jonny Castro Otto.

After four winless games, Wolves will have eyed up the game as an ideal opportunity to get back to winning ways against a struggling Huddersfield team.

The usual spectacular pre-match fireworks at a darkening Molineux set the stage perfectly for Wolves to do their thing...but what followed was, by a distance, their worst 45 minute display of the season.

Wolves were sluggish in possession, short of ideas, sloppy at the back and out-thought and outfought by their opponents.

The players seemed a yard off the pace – never more so than for Huddersfield's surprise early opening goal with their first meaningful attack.

As Matt Doherty jogged back down the touchline, Erik Durm raced by him and Ryan Bennett before crossing low for Aaron Mooy to sidefoot home with an impressive finish. Rui Patricio had no chance.

Before that it had actually been a positive opening five minutes for Wolves, with Vinagre an enthusiastic outlet on the left, but after Mooy's strike they only threatened Jonas Lossl's goal on one occasion,.

That was when Ivan Cavaleiro was nicely fed by Raul Jimenez in the box, only to be denied by a superb last-ditch tackle.

That was as good as it got for Cavaleiro, who to put it nicely had a stinker of a first half, continuously and maddeningly giving the ball away.

They were all guilty of poor and wayward passes though, even Patricio whose pass straight out of play summed up a first half in which Wolves looked collectively hungover.

Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho were jumped on every time they had the ball at their feet by Huddersfield's committed midfielders, while the Terriers also carried a more potent attacking threat and were led by the inspirational Mooy.

The one good thing from a Wolves perspective was they were only 1-0 down at the break. Towards the end of the first half they created a number of opportunities as Wolves wilted, with the hosts grateful that a couple of headers from corners were straight at Patricio.

The whole shebang was epitomised further when Ryan Bennett, encouraged to shoot, sent a 25-yarder into row Z.

Other than a wonderful, old school crunching tackle from Conor Coady on Florent Hadergjonaj, which really got the fans going, there was a lack of passion too and Wolves were duly booed off at half time for what must be the first occasion in Nuno's reign.

It was no surprise to see Cavaleiro and Moutinho taken off at half time, with Adama Traore and Morgan Gibbs-White sent on to transform Wolves' fortunes.

Traore almost did that within 10 minutes when he delicately lifted a cross to the back post where Jimenez headed goalwards – but Billing brilliantly and acrobatically cleared off the line. Replays showed that only 1.8cm of the ball hadn't crossed the line.

There was definitely more urgency about Wolves' play but resilient Huddersfield were making it difficult for them to create clear-cut chances. Doherty sent an inviting cross into the box but there was no one to tap it home.

Then Jimenez was presented with a golden opportunity. Terence Kongolo was down injured near the corner flag so Jimenez was onside, despite being beyond the Huddersfield back line, and clean through on goal. Bizarrely he elected to cut inside a recovering Huddersfield defender and then the chance went begging, to the huge frustration of the Molineux masses.

It turned out to be a pivotal moment, as Huddersfield embarked on their first attacking spell of the half and within a few minutes they doubled their lead.

Mooy produced another technically excellent finish to curl a 20-yard free kick which beat Patricio at his near post, but strangely and criminally there was a huge hole between Neves and Costa at the end of the wall, which Mooy duly put the ball through.

Thereafter the game died a death, with Wolves humiliated as Huddersfield sprayed the ball around to cries of 'ole' from the away fans.

Key moments

6 - GOAL - Steve Mounie finds Erik Durm on the over lap down the left side, and his low pull back falls to Aaron Mooy. He is unmarked on the edge of the box and has time to side foot an effort into the corner beyond Rui Patricio.

10 - TACKLE - Raul Jimenez finds Ivan Cavaleiro, who bursts into the box but as he gets ready to pull the trigger, Terence Kongolo denies him with a last ditch tackle.

36 - CHANCE - Mooy's corner from the left is met by Mounie but the Huddersfield man can only direct his header straight at Patricio. Seconds later Kongolo heads straight at the keeper from a Jonathan Hogg cross from a short corner.

45+2 - CHANCE - Mooy's corner deep into first half stoppage time is met but Mounie who powers a header down and it looks to be heading in. But a cluster of bodies clear.

56 - CHANCE - Adama Traore beats the full back with his pace and hangs up a cross to the back post. Jimenez heads it down and it looks to be going in, but Philip Billing hooks it off the line.

66 - CHANCE - Wolves might not get a better chance to score than this all season. A through ball finds Jimenez in acres of space in the final third, and the striker is being played onside by Kongolo on the right flank. He drives towards the goal, but cuts inside allowing Huddersfield defenders to scramble back and the forward scuffs an effort nowhere near the goal.

73 - GOAL - Huddersfield have a free kick on the left side of the box, and Mooy steps up to curl it around the wall and beat Patricio at his near post.

79 - CHANCE - Wolves fail to clear and the ball falls to Mooy on the edge of the box. His effort is blocked but the ball falls to Mounie eight yards out who lashes high over the bar.

85 - CHANCE - Jimenez finds Diogo Jota in the box, who shows quick feet before firing at goal but Jonas Lossl gets a foot to it to keep the low driven shot out.

Teams

Wolves (3-4-3): Patricio, Doherty, Bennett, Cavaleiro (Traore 46), Neves, Jimenez, Costa (Jota 75), Boly, Coady, Moutinho (Gibbs-White 46), Vinagre

Subs not used - Ruddy, Saiss, Dendoncker, Bonatini

Huddersfield (3-5-2): Lossl, Smith, Kongolo, Hogg (Stankovic 90+2), Billing (Williams 90+2), Mooy, Pritchard (Mbenza 90+2), Mounie, Schindler, Hadergjonaj, Durm

Subs not used - Hamer, Kachunga, Sobhi, Deporitre

Goals: Mooy (6, 74)

Attendance: 30,130 (1,838 Huddersfield fans)

Referee: Kevin Friend

League position

11th (16 points from 13 matches)

Next up

Wolves travel to Cardiff on Friday night.