Well, what a day!
It is difficult to do a performance, result and atmosphere like yesterday justice in a report. However, I’m going to give it a try.
Setting off from Sussex at 7am yesterday, we knew that we would be returning in either the best of moods, having picked up a victory and pulled ourselves eight points clear of the relegation zone, or feeling utterly dejected, as we did when leaving Molineux last season.
We arrived at Molineux on one of the many official coaches with just over an hour until kick-off, and the Albion fans were already in fine voice.
The team
Roy Hodgson sprung a pleasant surprise in his team selection, as he reverted back to the 4-5-1 formation which has served us so well over the last 12 months or so.
Liam Ridgewell was handed his debut at left-back in place of Nicky Shorey, and Paul Scharner replaced Graham Dorrans in the heart of a midfield which also included Youssouf Mulumbu and James Morrison.
Peter Odemwingie and Jerome Thomas played on the right and left wing respectively, with Marc-Antoine Fortune leading the line up front.
First half
We started the game on the front foot, and could have been out of sight by the half-hour mark.
Unfortunately for us, Wayne Hennessey produced magnificent saves to deny Jerome Thomas, Paul Scharner and Peter Odemwingie early on.
Our dominance in the opening exchanges was remarkable, as we controlled possession and looked capable of scoring every time we went forward. However, with the game still at 0-0, it was clear we needed to find a goal if we were to put ourselves in a position to go on and win the game.
Thankfully, we did just that after 34 minutes. There was more than an element of luck about the goal though, as Odemwingie cut inside from the right wing and saw his left-foot shot from just outside the penalty area deflected past Hennessey by Dave Edwards.
At this stage, I was hoping we would kick on from here and maybe even score another goal before half-time to stretch our lead and put us in a position of real control.
However, it wouldn’t be an Albion game if we didn’t made things unnecessarily hard for ourselves, which we did by switching off during injury-time at the end of the half and allowing Steven Fletcher to send a snap-shot past Ben Foster and into the back of the net.
Second Half
I’m sure I wasn’t the only Albion fan who was slightly concerned at how important the timing of this goal would prove to be, as we had dominated the entire first half and were somehow starting the second half level.
As expected, Wolves started the second half the better side and saw Fletcher have a shot deflected just wide by Olsson as the hosts looked to put us under pressure.
We soon regrouped though, and took the lead again after 64 minutes. It was one of the scrappiest goals you will see all season, as Olsson saw a shot from ten yards out dropped over the line by Hennessey, after a Gareth McAuley header had come back off the far post and Roger Johnson had cleared the ball straight back into the danger zone following a James Morrison corner.
Despite going ahead, Albion then had to withstand the longest spell of Wolves pressure throughout the entire game.
In my opinion, the game’s key moment probably arrived during this spell of pressure, as Foster made a superb save to claw a looping header from Fletcher away from goal when it seemed destined for the top corner. From the resulting corner, Youssouf Mulumbu flicked a header from Johnson onto his own crossbar before the danger was eventually cleared.
We made the most of this escape, by making it 3-1 with 13 minutes remaining and effectively ending the game as a contest. Once again, it was a set-piece which did the damage, as Liam Ridgewell headed a Morrison corner back across goal, where Olsson flicked the ball on and Odemwingie was on hand to finish from close range.
We were well on top now, and put Wolves to the sword with two more goals in the final ten minutes to really compound the misery for the few home fans who stayed until the bitter end.
First, Keith Andrews, who had come on as a substitute at half-time for the injured Paul Scharner, sent a low left-foot shot from the edge of the penalty area into the bottom corner after a Morrison cut-back had missed everyone in the six-yard box following another brilliant counter-attack. This goal in front of the South Bank clearly meant a lot to Andrews, as he began his career at Wolves and was being booed every time he touched the ball by their fans.
The demolition was complete with two minutes remaining, as yet another superb counter-attack ended with Odemwingie just about beating Hennessey with a placed shot after another fine assist from Morrison.
On reflection
This game will live long in the memory of every Albion fan.
The scenes in the lower tier of the Steve Bull Stand throughout the game and at the final whistle were superb, as the travelling Albion fans took great joy in celebrating the kind of victory which does not come along very often.
This was as comfortable an Albion victory as you could ever wish to see, as we dominated the game in midfield and attacked with the kind of pace which made us such a great team to watch towards the end of last season.
There could be a case for literally every Albion player to be Man of the Match, but I believe three players stood out.
The first is James Morrison, who cemented his place as arguably our Player of the Season so far with an outstanding display in midfield. Not only was his passing and attacking play impressive, he also got stuck into a number of challenges and ensured that Wolves would not overpower us as they did at Molineux last season.
Peter Odemwingie also deserves a lot of credit for his hat-trick, but also for his all-round performance. He had the beating of Stephen Ward every time he got the ball, and could have had five goals were it not for some last-ditch defending and first-half heroics from Hennessey. I have been one of Odemwingie’s harshest critics this season, but more performances like yesterday will see him become one of the most feared attacking players in the Premier League once again.
The final player who deserves particular credit is Marc-Antoine Fortune, who led the line superbly once again and certainly deserved a goal for his performance. He has probably been our best player in 2012 so far and has made himself impossible to drop since returning from a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers towards the end of December.
Playing a 4-5-1 yesterday suited us and meant that we could control the game, so credit must also go to Roy Hodgson for getting it right tactically and in terms of the players he picked.
Arriving back home 13 hours after we had left, there was no doubt that this was one of the best Albion games we had ever experienced. To beat your local rivals is always good, but to embarrass them on their own turf is incredible!
Hopefully we can now improve our home form and ensure we are looking forward to Premier League football next season long before the end of this one!
Boing Boing!
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