From Brentford Community Stadium – Wolves beat Brentford 2-1 on Saturday in a game marred by several stoppages.
Play was halted three times as Bruno Lage’s men overcame Thomas Frank’s side.
The first big chance of the afternoon went the way of the hosts after four minutes when Vitaly Janelt found Sergi Canos making a late run into the Wolves area, but Rayan Ait-Nouri did enough to put the Spaniard off and his shot trickled wide.
Brentford had the better of the opening exchanges but were seldom troubling Jose Sa in the Wolves goal, with Ivan Toney missing a glorious chance to square for Bryan Mbeumo to finish.
Play came to a halt just after the 20-minute mark when Rico Henry and Mathias Jensen collided at full-pace when trying to meet a high ball, and after a lengthy period of treatment on the pitch, both were hauled off per use of concussion substitutions.
But not long after restarting, referee Peter Bankes ordered the players back to their changing rooms after an unauthorised drone entered the stadium’s airspace, bringing the game to a standstill for nearly half an hour.
That break seemed to do Wolves a world of good, putting their initially sloppy display behind them while their hosts struggled to maintain their momentum.
Nonetheless, the sides were level when Bankes blew the whistle for half time – 71 minutes after the game kicked off.
After another delay due to a fault with Bankes’ equipment, the second half got underway, and Wolves were ahead within five minutes of the restart through Joao Moutinho, who played a quick one-two with Nelson Semedo before finding the far corner with the outside of his boot.
Substitute Yoane Wissa fired over from range as the Bees failed to get a clear sight of goal, but Brentford seemed to be handed a lifeline when Toti received a red card for a dangerous challenge on Kristoffer Ajer. However, Bankes changed his mind after checking his decision on the VAR monitor and a yellow was issued instead.
But that wasn’t the end of the drama as Toney emphatically volleyed in Mbeumo’s floating free kick from the result of Toti’s challenge.
Just as Brentford were in the ascendancy, Wolves were back in front when Ruben Neves’ effort from range snuck in at Jonas Lossl’ near post.
While Brentford piled on the pressure, Wolves had the ball in the net again deep into stoppage time through Adama Traore, but VAR ruled it out for offside.
But the visitors managed to hold on and escaped with the points.
Ajer marauded forward on occasion / Catherine Ivill/GettyImages
Jonas Lossl (GK) – 3/10 – Should have done much better with Neves’ strike.
Kristoffer Ajer (CB) – 7/10 – Brentford look more assured with him in the side and made great runs forward – eventually resulting in the equaliser.
Pontus Jansson (CB) – 5/10 – Roughed up Silva a little.
Ethan Pinnock (CB) – 4/10 – Far too easily beaten in duels on the floor.
It was a rough game for Norgaard / Chloe Knott – Danehouse/GettyImages
Sergi Canos (RWB) – 6/10 – Found it harder to make an impact after moving to the left.
Mathias Jensen (CM) – 6/10 – Was Brentford’s best player before being brought off and they missed his ingenuity.
Christian Norgaard (CM) – 3/10 – By his own standards this was a staggeringly poor game for the Denmark international, second-best most of the match and not getting near Wolves’ midfield.
Vitaly Janelt (CM) – 4/10 – Distributed the ball well when he had it but it should have been more often. Hid at times.
Rico Henry (LWB) – 4/10 – Nearly gifted Wolves a clear path to goal minutes before his collision with Jensen. The Bees missed his width, however.
A new trim for Toney / Catherine Ivill/GettyImages
Bryan Mbeumo (CF) – 5/10 – Had little tangible impact on the game until his superbly weighted free kick fell to Toney.
Ivan Toney (CF) – 6/10 – Kept Coady busy, but was rarely the victor in their duels. Phenomenal finish to level the scores.
Mads Roerslev (RWB, 25′ for Henry, concussion sub) – 2/10 – Came on, did little good, came off.
Shandon Baptiste (CM, 26′ for Jensen, concussion sub) – 3/10 – Failed to effectively progress the ball by way of passing or dribbling.
Yoane Wissa (LW, 58′ for Roerslev) – 6/10 – Brought much needed impetus to a stale Brentford frontline.
Marcus Forss (CF, 79′ for Baptiste) – 4/10
Saman Ghoddos (83′, LWB for Canos) – N/A
Sa was in the wars / Catherine Ivill/GettyImages
Jose Sa (GK) – 5/10 – Made a meal of plenty of contact, including from his own teammates, before time wasting to perfection.
Max Kilman (CB) – 5/10 – Looked a little ropey and it’s a surprise Brentford didn’t target him more.
Conor Coady (CB) – 8/10 – Essentially flawless, pocketing Brentford’s attackers and spreading play from deep.
Toti (CB) – 7/10 – Hard to believe this is just his second game at this level, didn’t look out of place at all. Fans were already singing his name.
Moutinho was supreme / Chloe Knott – Danehouse/GettyImages
Nelson Semedo (RWB) – 8/10 – Had plenty of joy galloping down the flank and grabbed an assist for Moutinho.
Leander Dendoncker (CM) – 6/10 – Probed plenty and his physicality was crucial.
Ruben Neves (CM) – 8/10 – Snuffed out opposite number Norgaard with ease before grabbing the winner.
Joao Moutinho (CM) – 9/10 – A top performance from a top player who’s ageing like a fine wine.
Rayan Ait-Nouri (LWB) – 7/10 – Was giving Roerslev such a torrid time that he had to be substituted after coming on for Henry.
Silva was wasteful / Catherine Ivill/GettyImages
Daniel Podence (CF) – 6/10 – Some neat touches and tricks but little in the way of goalmouth action.
Fabio Silva (CF) – 4/10 – Had some sights of goal but still doesn’t look like a fully developed Premier League striker.
Adama Traore (CF, 75′ for Silva) – 5/10
Francisco Trincao (CF, 90′ for Podence) – N/A
For more from Sean Walsh, follow him on Twitter!
