Analysis: Defeat and set backs expose thin area in Wolves squad

An attacking trio of Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha is a mouth-watering prospect, but Gary O’Neil has rarely been able to unleash that deadly combination for a variety of reasons.

That was the case again when Brentford visited Molineux for the fourth meeting between both clubs in just 45 days.

Hwang was poised to at least return to the bench following his semi-final exit with South Korea at the Asia Cup, but a calf injury in training on Friday ultimately ruled him out of the squad.

Nevertheless, confidence was high going into the game with Wolves buoyed by their 4-2 crushing of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and there were very few eyebrows raised when O’Neil named an unchanged starting XI.

But Wolves suffered yet another blow with just 20 minutes on the clock when Cunha was forced off with a hamstring issue.

O’Neil revealed in his pre-match press conference that Cunha will undergo a scan next week to determine the severity of the issue.

The previous five games had heralded no fewer than 14 goals, seven of which Cunha had been directly involved in (four goals, three assists).

The Brazilian, who joined Hwang on 11 goals in all competitions courtesy of his hat-trick at Chelsea, was replaced by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.

Bellegarde struggled leading the line on his own and was often bullied by the Brentford defence.

Wolves looked a shadow of the team that beat Chelsea the previous weekend. The performance looked flat and their passing was often sloppy.

Jose Sa looked nervy in possession and was twice guilty of giving the ball away when attempting to build from the back.

He redeemed himself with a smart stop to deny Neal Maupay, but Brentford looked most likely to break the deadlock in the first half as they continued to push.

Mads Roerslev blazed another golden chance over the crossbar after Nathan Collins had almost stabbed in a low cross at the back post, and eventually Brentford found the breakthrough aided by some poor Wolves’ marking.

Sergio Reguilon floated his corner into the six-yard box and Christian Norgaard crept behind a static Craig Dawson to nod past Sa.

Pedro Neto, who was Wolves’ biggest attacking threat, almost levelled just before the break when his free header at the back post was clawed on to the post by Mark Flekken.

O’Neil responded immediately at the break by switching to a back-four as Nathan Fraser replaced Toti.

The change in formation coincided with Wolves’ best period of the game at the start of the second half, although Fraser’s introduction underlined the lack of depth in attack.

Wolves’ first-team attacking options are strong without doubt, but Neto was very much having to pull the strings on his own without Cunha to combine with.

Neto continued to drag Wolves forward and crashed a low deflected effort against the base of the near post after he was released by Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Brentford cleared the resulting corner and Neto’s delivery from the second ball was glanced into the far corner by the head of Dawson.

However, a lengthy VAR check ensued and Dawson was adjudged to be in an offside position in what was an extremely tight, but correct call.

The momentum of Wolves’ second- half revival died down and Ivan Toney ruthlessly punished another error by Dawson to double Brentford’s advantage. The veteran defender gave the ball away cheaply inside his own half. Vitaly Janelt beat Tommy Doyle to the ball and played a quick give and go with Yegor Yarmolyuk to release himself down the inside left channel.

Brentford were quick to pounce and Toney escaped his marker with ease to slide a clinical finish beyond the reach of Sa.

The game was ultimately killed as a contest at that stage, and Brentford added a fifth defender in the shape of Kristoffer Ajer to close out the victory.

A lack of attacking prowess coupled with mistakes at the back ultimately cost Wolves as they slipped to back-to-back home defeats in the Premier League.