SK Slovan Bratislava vs Wolverhampton Wanderers. UEFA Europa League Group K.
Tehelne Pole StadiumAttendance20,333.
Match report as Romain Saiss and Raul Jimenez goals earn comeback win
Friday 25 October 2019 06:13, UK
Wolves came from behind to win 2-1 away to Slovan Bratislava to move up into the qualification spots in Europa League Group K.
Romain Saiss' long-range shot and Raul Jimenez's penalty turned the game around in the second half as Slovan lost for the first time in their new stadium, ending a 33-game unbeaten run.
Wolves even survived a late red card for substitute Diogo Jota as they secured back-to-back away wins in the Europa League.
It was the introduction of Adama Traore at half-time that turned the game in Wolves' favour after a poor first half played out in front of a strange atmosphere following UEFA sanctions.
The game was originally supposed to be behind closed doors but local schoolchildren eventually made up much of the crowd and the youngsters got to see the home side go ahead in the 11th minute.
Andraz Sporar had already given the defence a warning before beating Rui Patricio at the near post when his left-footed shot took a slight deflection off Wolves skipper Conor Coady.
The best chance of an equaliser before the break fell to Willy Boly but his header from Joao Moutinho's free-kick went wide and that was about as good as it got until Traore came on.
Slovan had no answer to his pace and several chances followed before Saiss attempted an ambitious shot from distance that bounced awkwardly for goalkeeper Dominik Greif.
Wolves took the lead five minutes later when Vernon De Marco pushed Jimenez inside the box and the Mexican duly converted calmly from the resulting penalty.
Jota was booked twice in a matter of moments late on to reduce Wolves to 10 men but they saw the game out to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to seven games.
What an impact from the substitute. The game was so open in the first half and it was crying out for his presence. Nuno recognised that and the switch of formation to 3-4-3 allowed Traore and Matt Doherty to double up down the right wing and wreak havoc. He changed the entire momentum of the match.
"Everybody is happy, the first half was not so good but the second half was a very, very good performance," said the Wolves boss.
"It's something that we have to analyse, why we required so much effort in the second half.
"In the first half we didn't play so well, we conceded a goal and we cannot do that."
"The squad isn't big enough to compete on two fronts, to attack at the level they really want to," said former Wolves goalkeeper Murray.
"They've done really well so far, and obviously did well at Manchester City, getting the win there.
"Now they need to keep building on it, and show that when they do well in Europe, they can then go and win in the Premier League too."
There is no rest for Wolves because they travel to Newcastle in Premier League action live on Super Sunday before facing Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
