Most people fear vampires, werewolves, and zombies on Halloween. Today, the scariest thing imaginable (for Cardiff defenders, anyway) was crosses into the box. It was nothing short of a masterclass from Wolves, with all three goals coming off of headers right in front of an overwhelmed Nathan Trott. Fer Lopez struck first in the 10th minute, after he was left all alone to receive a gorgeous ball from Hugo Bueno. Five minutes after the Spanish connection, Rafiki Said sent in another scintillating pass towards Adam Armstrong to make it 2-0. After a tepid 40-ish minutes, Ladislav Krejci put the game to bed with our third goal of the game, this time off a lovely corner delivery from the skipper, Kieran Trippier. While we were unable to gain any ground on Middlesbrough and Swansea, Wolves sit third in the table and are unbeaten in four. It was the best performance of the season.
Good: Offensive Firepower on Full Display
Right from the jump, it seemed apparent that the boys were up for it this afternoon. The strategic effort to get the ball on the wing was direct and dominant. Bueno and Said on the left were particularly impressive, and I’m running out of superlatives for Fer Lopez. After consecutive pedestrian performances against Watford and Portsmouth, albeit with positive results, it was great to see some goals today.
Good: Jose Sa, a Pro’s Pro
I think a lot of us may have written off Sa too early. It’s understandable why; he had a bad 2025/26 but was still one of the bigger names on the roster that one could easily assume would want a move to a club that’s in a top-flight league, i.e. Hwang, Agbadou, Tolu, etc. Today was his fourth clean sheet in 11 matches, and he didn’t have a slow day at the office by any means. His nine saves were one shy of matching his career high of 10. Should we make it back to the Premier League, it’s uncertain if Sa will be our number one going forward. But for now, I’m very pleased with his recent performances.
Bad: James Injured
This is the most obvious negative in a 3-0 win. James was unable to continue after 36 minutes, and all we can do is hope that it’s not another serious injury. Bellegarde did fine, but the midfield is so much more dynamic with James in it.
Bad: Yellow Cards
This is so nitpicky. I feel dumb even bringing it up, but it’s not called “Two Good, One Bad”. Four yellows in a match ties a season high for Wolves, who also saw four cards come out last week against Watford. With James likely looking at some time off the pitch, Bellegarde and Munetsi may want to calm down a tiny bit, given that they each have three on the season already. But again, this is the type of stuff that only the most cynical Wolves fans can fixate on after a performance like today. Everyone should enjoy the win.
