Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Leicester City. Premier League.
MolineuxAttendance31,497.
Match report and free match highlights from the Premier League clash between Wolves and Leicester at Molineux as Bruno Lage's men boosted their hopes of a top-four finish with a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Ruben Neves and Daniel Podence
Monday 21 February 2022 07:33, UK
Wolves kept themselves in the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League with a 2-1 win against Leicester at Molineux on Super Sunday.
The victory propelled Wolves above Tottenham in the table and six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United with two games in hand.
Bruno Lage's men took a ninth-minute lead thanks to Ruben Neves' strike, and hit back to take all three points through Daniel Podence after Ademola Lookman had levelled for the Foxes.
Leicester - who have not won a Premier League game since beating Liverpool 1-0 on December 28 - were put under the cosh early on, with the hosts looking to attack in wide areas, and went behind with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
A cross from the left-hand side caused panic in the box, with Raul Jimenez able to hold the ball up and pull it back to Neves, who found the net with a sweetly struck first time shot from the edge of the area.
Despite looking shaky from defensive set-pieces, the Foxes responded reasonably well and tested Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa with fierce drives from Youri Tielemans and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, but shortly before the break, they pulled level.
Marc Albrighton ran on to Tielemans' gorgeous defence-splitting pass and pulled the ball across the box for Ademola Lookman, who prodded in. It was just the second goal Wolves had conceded from open play in 13 league games.
The timing of the equaliser spurred Leicester on after the break and they took control, forcing Sa into a couple more saves, before Tielemans once again lifted a shot over the target.
But against the run of play, Wolves soon had the lead once more. Podence collected a square ball on the edge of the area, set himself and fired a low shot out of Kasper Schmeichel's reach and into the bottom left corner.
The VAR Stuart Atwell reviewed the goal, with two Wolves players standing in offside positions. But he ruled that neither had interfered with play and confirmed the goal.
Brendan Rodgers introduced James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho in the closing stages in order to try and force what would have been a welcome equaliser, but Leicester could not find it.
Bruno Lage is targeting "something special" this season after his side maintained their position in the Premier League top-four race with a 2-1 win over Leicester.
Lage has transformed this Wolves side from the one that struggled to entertain under Nuno Espirito Santo last season.
And with six wins from their last eight games, Wolves are very much a contender to qualify for the Champions League in what is looking like a thrilling battle alongside United, West Ham, Arsenal and Tottenham.
"It depends on the way we work," Lage said. "Now is time to recover and prepare best for the game against Arsenal and that is it.
"That's the most important thing. We are coming with solid performances, we are scoring goals, we are winning points and we need to continue this way because if we do we can do something special.
"That is to look at the end, for now it is one more game, three points and focus on the next game.
"When I say something special I mean the way we are going to play these 14 games. We did something special with the way we played in December, January and February. We are doing solid things."
Leicester's Brendan Rodgers told Sky Sports: "Sometimes after you lose a game there's obviously disappointment and frustration, but I was very enthused by the team today. I thought lots of our play was really, really good. We're started to see in a number of the last games the bits of our Leicester returning back to our levels of play and creativity. It is just disappointing. They had what? Two shots?
"There was a bit of pressure around set-pieces, which we expected, but apart from that, they had two shots from outside the box and got two goals. I was so proud of the team in relation to the performance and that's what's going to allow us to get back to the level that we have been at for a few years.
"If you look at the winless run, that should have been over. In the Tottenham game, we were 2-1 up with 30 seconds left - you can't lose that. These are all things that you have to do - and especially with a really young group of players. If you lose, you go away and learn and you look to win the next game. Keeping that performance level up is important, that intensity, that collective pressure and then, eventually, they will get the wins."
Perhaps it is because they go about their business in a quiet manner, winning games comfortably but not by huge margins and conceding so infrequently that they have the joint-second best defensive record in the Premier League.
But Wolves have gone under the radar and firmly established themselves as genuine top-four contenders over the past three months or so, boosting their hopes with Sunday's 2-1 victory over Leicester at Molineux, their fifth win in six games.
This one was not particularly straightforward, with Brendan Rodgers' Foxes dominating for large spells after equalising through Ademola Lookman shortly before the break - just the second goal Wolves have conceded from open play in 13 league outings.
But with only the two real chances of note, the hosts found the back of the net to move to into seventh on 40 points.
Ruben Neves found the back of the net with a sweet strike from 20 yards just nine minutes in, while Daniel Podence's first league goal since December 2020 - ending a barren run of 29 games - proved to be the winner. They are now only just behind fourth-placed Manchester United with the added bonus of up to two games in hand over many of the teams around them.
Inspired by the reward of three points but not the performance, head coach Bruno Lage is, understandably, hungry to build upon the success he has brought since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo at the helm. Having now matched last season's win total of 12 with 14 games to play, his side are clearly onto something good.
At first glance, things do not look particularly good for Leicester at this moment in time. They are nine points off the bottom three and have not won a Premier League game since December 28 - a run of five, with just two points collected along the way.
Given the fact the Foxes have finished fifth in each of the last two seasons, there is reason to be concerned and it is somewhat understandable that the pressure is, supposedly, mounting on Brendan Rodgers.
39 - Image - James Maddison returned to action for Leicester against Wolves after requiring medical attention in Thursday's Europa Conference League win over RandersBut there are a series of mitigating factors contributing to their slump. Jamie Vardy, Jonny Evans, Wesley Fofana among others remain part of a lengthy injury list at the King Power, while Covid-related postponements mean they have two games in hand. Win them both and they could be back into the top half again, even if a top six push looks unlikely at this point.
Stats alone, of course, do not win matches, but though they lost 2-1 to Wolves on Sunday, the match stats made for impressive reading. Leicester had 17 shots, seven of which were on target, had a pass success rate of 88 per cent and dominated the ball, with 65 per cent of the possession.
As a result, Rodgers was spritely when he spoke to Sky Sports after the final whistle: "Sometimes after you lose a game there's obviously disappointment and frustration, but I was very enthused by the team today," he said.
"I thought lots of our play was really, really good. We're started to see in a number of the last games the bits of our Leicester returning back to our levels of play and creativity. Keeping that performance level up is important, that intensity, that collective pressure and then, eventually, they will get the wins."
Wolves travel to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal in the Premier League on Thursday February 24 at 7.45pm. Meanwhile, Leicester travel to Randers in the Europa Conference League at 5.45pm on the same night.
