Post Match report for the Wolves game - Saturday, 20th April 2019
PREMIER LEAGUE; Wolves v Brighton
ALBION JUST HUNGRY ENOUGH TO KEEP WOLVES AWAY
VENUE; Molineux, Wolverhampton - seventeenth away match of 34 fixtures.
RESULT; 0-0 . SHAPE; 4-5-1 . REF; did not have a lot to worry about on an afternoon of basics.
PREAMBLE; travelling support knew by default this was an opportunity to break the current cycle of goalless & pointless games. Whether the away eleven could lift fans or vice versa, was to be determined from kickoff.
GATE; 31,096 . WEATHER; warm & sunny.
CHRIS HUGHTON picked the starting side from a squad collectively failing to make the grade. He effectively had choice of combining 18 from 21 shirt numbers, which more or less restricted radical alterations.
TEAM; . . . . . . . . 1 Ryan
. . 2 Bruno, 4 Duffy, 5 Dunk, 3 Bong
. . . . 13 Gross, 6 Stephens, 24 Propper
. . 20 March, 17 Murray, 19 Izquierdo
BENCH; 27 Button, 30 Bernardo (70), 33 Burn, 7 Kayal (10), 16 Jahanbakhsh, 9 Locadia, 10 Andone.
GOALS; none. Never has a clean sheet been accepted with the same feeling as when actually winning.
INCIDENTS; 45+1 - fortune favoured Seagulls as they scrambled around at a threat and the ball clipped the cross bar.
73 - a second lifeline for travellers when a shot hits the post but the rebounding ball is somehow blocked.
YELLOWS; 32 - Stephens was put into trouble by slack work on the flank.
SUBS; 10 - Kayal replaced injured Propper. 70 - Bernardo came on for tiring Bruno.
Both these changes proved beneficial to avoiding defeat - one enforced and the other timely.
ANALYSIS; getting to halftime goalless was at least an improvement on recent contests prior to the break. Second period tactics were intended to repeat rearguard solidity and after hosts substitutions visitors came under yet more pressure.
Those random situations when the ball appears out of control essentially went the way of green shirts. So a sound defensive display ensured the vital point required for stabilisation was gained.
The players deserve credit for digging deep, especially those with much less game time recently but prepared to give their all. Going back to basics produced a better away team performance and consequently a boost in confidence, emotionally and stats-wise.
MoM - Kayal, put into the fray early and did not disappoint in any respect.
NUMBERS; shape 352-433, poss 68%-32%, on target 5-0, off target 13-4, corners 14-1, fouls 0-8, yellows 0-1, subs 3-2.
FS
EASTER SATURDAY TABLE: bottom eight - as from 3pm k-os
Po . Pl . -GD . Pt
13 . 34 . -06 . 39 Palace
14 . 34 . -18 . 39 Burnley
15 . 34 . -11 . 38 Newcastle
16 . 33 . -15 . 36 Southampton
17 . 34 . -21 . 34 Brighton
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18 . 34 . -33 . 31 Cardiff
19 . 35 . -43 . 23 Fulham - Relegated
20 . 35 . -49 . 14 Huddersfield - Relegated
