Wolves dominate Fulham with 4-1 victory at Craven Cottage

Wolves dominate Fulham with 4-1 victory at Craven Cottage! Wolves manager Gary O’Neil says there is “no limit” to Matheus Cunha’s potential after the Brazilian scored two sensational goals in a thumping Premier League win over Fulham.

Cunha cancelled out Alex Iwobi’s brilliant opener at Craven Cottage with a wonderful strike of his own, controlling Mario Lemina’s long ball with his first touch before lifting a delicate finish over goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Joao Gomes put the visitors in front after the break, before Cunha curled another magnificent effort into the far corner and Goncalo Guedes added a late fourth on the counter-attack to seal a victory which moved Wolves out of the relegation zone.

“Everyone knows how important [Cunha] is to us,” O’Neil said of the 25-year-old, whose 10 top-flight goal involvements this season are bettered only by Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka.

“His numbers, his hunger, his willingness to do the other side of it [off the ball] – he’s come on so much.

“I love working with him. He can be a top player. He works every day to be as good as he can be. This was Matheus’ best out-of-possession performance I’ve seen from him.

“Bernardo Silva and Martin Odegaard are top without the ball – Matheus’ numbers are as good as anybody’s.

“There’s no limit to where he can get to, ability wise. He’s going to stay at Wolves for as long as possible firstly, but after that there’s no limit to where he can go.”

Both teams struggled for fluency in the early stages on a a wet and windy day, but former Wolves striker Raul Jimenez should have given Fulham the lead three minutes before Iwobi’s strike when he turned Antonee Robinson’s low cross against the crossbar from point-blank range.

Second-half substitute Harry Wilson was unfortunate to see a curling shot strike the top of the bar with the score at 2-1, but Cunha’s second goal of the contest and Guedes’ stoppage-time drive brought Fulham’s winning league run to a shuddering halt.

Cunha the man with the Midas touch

Things were looking bleak for O’Neil after his side’s shambolic display at Brentford in October, but a run of four straight games without defeat – not to mention back-to-back wins for the first time since February – suggests his team are gradually starting to gather momentum.

O’Neil’s cause in west London was not helped by the absence of Santiago Bueno and Craig Dawson through injury and illness respectively, meaning Lemina had to deputise alongside Nelson Semedo, Toti and Rayan Ait-Nouri in a makeshift back four.

Ait-Nouri did not cover himself in glory when he lost possession cheaply in the build-up to Iwobi’s fine finish, but other than that Wolves coped well without their first-choice defenders and, in Cunha, they have a player in a rich vein of form.

The Brazil forward has now been involved in 26 goals in his past 29 league starts, with 17 goals and nine assists.

He has also registered 13 top-flight away goals since the start of last season, second only to Haaland’s tally of 17.

There were one or two nervy moments for Wolves in the second half as Ait-Nouri turned a low Fulham cross narrowly past his own post and Wilson rattled the woodwork, before Cunha and Guedes added gloss to the scoreline.

O’Neil celebrated enthusiastically in front of the away fans at full-time and, with five consecutive games coming up against bottom-half teams, his side will be confident of hauling themselves further away from danger before Christmas.

Fulham fall back down to earth

Fulham were aiming to win three successive top-flight games for the first time since January 2023 – but were unable to build on their promising start at Craven Cottage.

They were the better side in the first half but were undone by a moment of magic from Cunha, who was able to stroll unchallenged into the Fulham penalty area to control Lemina’s ball and restore parity.

Jimenez’s first-half miss ultimately proved costly, the Mexican striker somehow failing to beat goalkeeper Jose Sa with the score still goalless.

Manager Marco Silva made five substitutions in the space of 12 second-half minutes as his team chased the game – a move he would come to regret when Joachim Andersen was forced off with an injury with the score at 2-1, forcing the home side to play the rest of the contest with 10 men.

And with games against Tottenham, Brighton, Arsenal, and Liverpool coming up in the first half of December, Fulham fans can be forgiven for viewing this as a missed opportunity.