Wolverhampton Wanderers faced a daunting 3-2 defeat against Brentford, a match that underscored their ongoing defensive struggles and left them at the bottom of the Premier League table. The match began swiftly with Brentford almost continuing their early goal-scoring trend, as Nathan Collins headed in after one minute and 15 seconds, setting the stage for Wolves’ collapse.
The Wolves’ collapse was particularly disheartening, as they found themselves without a win and anchored at the bottom of the league. The team’s failure to maintain defensive shape and capitalize on ball possession was notable. Matheus Cunha’s early equalizer offered a glimmer of hope, but this was swiftly extinguished by Bryan Mbeumo’s penalty conversion. Despite another temporary equalizer from Jorgen Strand Larsen, further defensive lapses allowed Brentford’s Christian Norgaard and Ethan Pinnock to seal Wolves’ fate.
Wolves’ boss, Steve O’Neil said “The worst performance I’ve seen from the group since I’ve been here. The early goal knocks them maybe. But just far too open, no real understanding. Gave ourselves no opportunity at all because of the defensive shape. Even when we had the ball we were all over the place. It’s a shock. I haven’t seen that from them much. Players will make mistakes and get things wrong but the responsibility lies with me. Today they weren’t able to carry out what we needed, so there needs to be a rethink around how we go about things. I’m absolutely devastated with the way the team performed today.”
On the opposing side, Brentford manager Thomas Frank cheerfully reflected on his team’s dedication and high spirits. He mentioned a light-hearted approach in their preparations.
Thomas Frank said “We’ve been joking about it. It took a little bit longer this time, but all jokes aside it’s fantastic.If you look at us over the last four seasons, we always have goals in the team, no matter who is playing. We want to play forward as quick as possible.”