Wolves 1-0 West Brom.
Say it again.
Wolves 1-0 West Brom.
After waiting since 2012 for a league meeting at Molineux with supporters inside the ground, Wolves finally got the Black Country derby back and, more importantly, finally got one over on that lot. It wasn’t perfect, but frankly, after beating West Brom, perfection can wait. Here are our Two Good, Two Bad from a very enjoyable afternoon at Molineux.
Good
1 – We Beat The Baggies
Let’s start with the obvious one. We beat West Brom in the league for the first time since 2011, at Molineux. And there’s something particularly satisfying about watching the opposition spend 90 minutes offering absolutely nothing, then leave with absolutely nothing. This was the first league meeting between the sides at Molineux since January 2021, so plenty was at stake. And Wolves made the better start. The Old Gold were on the front foot, created the better opportunities and had West Brom goalkeeper Max O’Leary working overtime.
In fact, O’Leary probably deserves a little thank-you card from the Baggies supporters because without him this could have been considerably more embarrassing. He made several excellent saves, including denying Mateus Mane and Marshall Munetsi, while also helping keep out a header which eventually hit the crossbar. Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t save everything, a terrible mistake from Nat Phillips left him in no mans land as Fer López calmly tapped home the winner. Cue the Molineux faithful going rather mental.
2 – The Players Were Absolutely up for it
This was the other big positive.
Wolves had a real edge from the start and, unlike some derby performances we’ve seen in the past, the players didn’t look overwhelmed by the occasion. They wanted the game. André was probably the clearest example; he was involved in everything, putting himself about and giving Wolves the sort of presence you need in a game like this.
The first half was particularly encouraging, with Wolves dominating possession and chances while West Brom managed just one attempt before the break. That’s what you want from a derby. Not necessarily pretty football. Just players who look like they understand what the game means, and they showed that plenty.
Bad
1 – It Should’ve Been More
This is probably the strangest criticism to have after such an important win, but it should’ve been.
Wolves had enough chances to put this game to bed long before the final whistle, with O’Leary keeping the visitors in it on several occasions. And with Raul Jimenez unavailable, there was an even bigger incentive to make the most of the chances that came along. Instead, we got 1-0.
Which meant the final stages were spent doing the usual Wolves thing: watching a perfectly manageable game become considerably more stressful than it needed to be. Still, it’s difficult to be too unhappy about it. If we’re complaining that Wolves should have scored three against West Brom at home, then things could be considerably worse.
2 – Far Too Many Dangerous Free Kicks
The other concern was how many free kicks Wolves gave away in dangerous areas. West Brom didn’t create much from open play, so there was no need to keep giving them chances to put the ball into the box. José Sá dealt with what came his way, including an early free-kick from Isaac Price, while West Brom failed to make anything meaningful from the other set-piece opportunities they were handed.
Thankfully, they weren’t able to punish Wolves. We’ll take that. But against a side with more quality from dead balls, it could have been a different story.
The Verdict
For all the noise from the Albion during the build-up, it was strangely quiet from them once the football started. Funny how that works.
They’d spent all week giving it the big one, only to turn up at Molineux and spend most of the afternoon struggling to create anything of note. Even when they did get themselves into decent positions, Wolves were more than happy to deal with it. Albion’s best route forward seemed to be winning free-kicks and hoping the referee was still in their pocket.
But it didn’t matter. Wolves were the better side, had the better chances, and eventually Fer López gave us the moment the game deserved. His goal was enough to settle the derby, and after an afternoon like that, he’s written his name into a little bit of Molineux folklore.
There were nerves towards the end, obviously. We’re Wolves. A 1-0 lead is never going to be enjoyed normally. But the bigger picture is encouraging. That’s two clean sheets in a row now, which should start to calm some of the nerves around the defensive problems we saw at the beginning of the season. The back line looked far more settled here, and West Brom couldn’t break through.
So, after all the talk, all the build-up and all the noise from the other side of the Black Country, it was Wolves who walked away with the three points. The Albion fans can have the spreadsheets, the historical references and whatever else they were using to convince themselves they were going to enjoy Sunday.
We’ll take the win.
