Liam Keen analysis: Wolves back to square one after disastrous Sunderland defeat

Wolves beat Everton in the Carabao Cup and took a point off both Spurs and Brighton, denied a win in both games by late equalisers that put a dampener on better displays.

By no means were Wolves high flying, but they were going in the right direction based off the evidence in front of us.

But that would only have meant something if Vitor Pereira's side could back it up at Sunderland on Saturday and they spectacularly failed to do so.

This match would tell us exactly where Wolves are, either positively or negatively, and they are firmly back to square one with a mountain to climb.

The first few minutes of the game at the Stadium of Light were fine, with both sides having some possession.

That was until Sunderland had a 10-minute spell of dominance that ended up defining the fixture. 

Wilson Isidor fired a warning shot when he had a goal disallowed for being offside but Wolves did not heed the warning.

Instead, the hosts battered the visitors with long throw-ins, free-kicks and corners and at every turn Wolves look vulnerable.

The goal eventually came and Sunderland did not have to work hard for it, as Wolves failed to defend a simple one-two pass. They were opened up, all at sea and too easy to get at.

The rest of the first half was fairly non-eventful, once Wolves weathered a storm that also saw Trai Hume hit the post with a header that came from a long throw-in.

As expected, Wolves came out with more intensity in the second half after Pereira had a chance to get into them and the visitors dominated possession and created some chances.

Joao Gomes had a superb opportunity to equalise but lashed it wide incredibly poorly. In fact, considering his quality, he was fairly poor all afternoon and let his frustration get the better of him.

Marshall Munetsi was running the channels and making himself a nuisance, but otherwise Wolves managed to carry little threat in a game they were controlling and losing at the same time.

They lack of cutting edge was stark and they got desperate towards the end with long balls and football that was painful to watch.

Pereira summed it up fairly well in his post-match comments.

He said: "In my point of view, a poor first half from both teams.

"A lot of throw-ins. To talk about the first half I need to talk about throw-ins, free-kicks and the time that we wasted to do it.

"I didn't see any game. I'm trying to remember what we did in the first half and what Sunderland did. The game was very poor, in my opinion.

"In the second half we changed completely the way to play. We played in the way that we work every day.

"Doing the movements, creating chances, playing with possession, keeping the ball, not allowing them to play in our defensive midfield because they create problems with the throw-ins and the free-kicks. This is part of the game, I'm not a judge.

"We played 30 minutes with quality, had three or four chances to score the goal. We missed the chance and this is our problem.

"In the Premier League you cannot miss this kind of chance.

"After the last 15 minutes, we stopped playing. We started to play long balls for the strikers and again it was a poor game."

Sunderland were certainly not impressive, but they did not have to be to win the game and that is a damning indictment of where Wolves find themselves.

The Black Cats were workmanlike, organised and well coached, however. Wolves, on the other hand, started the game like it was a pre-season friendly and not a potentially season-defining fixture when relegation is on the cards.

How Wolves approached that first 20 minutes was embarrassing and how they failed to capitalise on second half possession was frustrating. Where the goals and points will come from is anyone's guess.

With Hwang Hee-chan injured and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde ill, the bench had one goalkeeper and six defenders occupying nine spots with just Fer Lopez and Tolu Arokodare the attacking options.

In the 67th minute, Pereira's first substitute saw him bring on right-back Ki-Jana Hoever - the least attacking of the defensive options - who had not played since late August.

Those kind of decisions will only further increase any division between Pereira and the fans.

Those in the stadium have so far been kind to a head coach that they desperately hope will succeed and the majority of the anger has been directed at owners Fosun and club chairman Jeff Shi.

But on social media Pereira's stock is falling and something must give soon.

Burnley come to town on Sunday and if Wolves lose to the third and final newly-promoted side then big decisions may need to be made.