Player Ratings: Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-2 Fulham

Fulham, being the weird inconsistent side that they are, returned to winning ways with a gritty win against relegation battling Wolves on a cold night at Molineux. Sublime finishes from Muniz and firstly from Ryan Sessegnon gave Fulham all three points in what was an important response to a disappointing showing against Crystal Palace at the weekend. Next up for the Whites is a trip to Old Trafford in the last 16 of the FA Cup.

Bernd Leno

Poor Bernd probably would have lost one of his arms had he got much closer to saving the venomous effort of Joao Gomes that resulted in the Wolves equaliser. Beyond that, Wolves didn’t manage many clear cut chances or force many big saves from our German. Anything that came into his six yard box was dealt with effectively in a rather quiet game for our captain on the night. 6.5/10,

Issa Diop

Nice to see Diop reintegrated into the side after an undeserved spell of games on the bench, and he once again proved his quality in this one. His confidence playing in the back three seemed to grow as the game went on and that showed as Wolves pushed for a second half equaliser. His eight clearances was comfortably the most of any Fulham player, as were his number of aerial duels won. Diop was dominant against the Wolves frontline. 7.5/10.

Joachim Andersen

Not sure playing in the middle of a back three particularly played to Andersen’s strengths on the ball, as the angle for a long diagonal pass to either flank almost got taken off the table. Like Diop, he defended our box really well as the game went on. Joa was also key to Fulham playing from the back, with the highest number of touches and highest pass accuracy of any of the back three on the night. 7/10.

Jorge Cuenca

It’s hard to see when Cuenca gets a proper run in the team unless Bassey, god forbid, suffers a big injury, but he just seems far too good to make such rare appearances at the moment. Whether it be in the cups or a rare outing in the league, he simply has not let Fulham down so far. Looked relatively quick tracking back towards his own goal and always seemed more intent than any defender on playing the ball into midfield rather than back towards Leno which was good to see. 7/10.

Timothy Castagne

It’s frustrating with Castagne because I have frequently mentioned my worries about his ability to provide Fulham with much of an attacking threat from the right when he plays, and even in a more advanced position today that hardly changed, barring one loopy cross towards Sessegnon in the first half. Defensively he was solid, and if he were to take any blame for being nutmegged in the lead up to the Wolves goal, he more than made up for it with a stunning block to deny Rayan Ait-Nouri a potential 97^th minute equaliser for the home side. 6.5/10.

Sander Berge

Thought he had a fairly quiet first half, but by no means did that mean he was poor, as he still did a job at protecting the newly assembled back three behind him. I thought he really excelled in the second half when there was points on the line. The way he just held players off at will in the closing stages to bring the ball into the Wolves half and starve them of any opportunities to play for a late equaliser showed immaculate footballing intelligence. 7/10.

Sasa Lukic

Strangely, I thought he was a weak point in the team today, which I can rarely say I have said about Sasa, especially this season. The Serb looked uncharacteristically limited in possession in the first half especially, seemingly either choosing to go backwards too often, or failing that simply trying lazy balls through bodies wearing gold which had no chance of finding his man. His tenth yellow card of the season was a stupid tackle with an obvious outcome and has worrying consequences with Lukic now missing key games against Brighton and Tottenham. 5/10.

Ryan Sessegnon

Over six years on from his last Fulham goal, the away end at Molineux were treated to a moment the Fulham faithful had been waiting on ever since he re-signed for his boyhood club in the summer; Ryan Sessegnon scoring goals in a Fulham shirt once more. A beautiful finish too, it has to be said. And quite frankly, throughout the game, Sess got into a number of good attacking positions from wing back. Against a quality opponent in Nelson Semedo, Sess consistently got the better of his man, and whilst maybe not posing as big a creative threat as some others, had a remarkable 100% pass completion rate. A superb performance which showed why he warranted a go from the start. 8/10 – Man of the Match.

Andreas Pereira

Another player that got a chance back in the side and absolutely took his opportunity. Lovely composure and balance to quickly thread the pass through to Sess for the opening goal. His passing in open play in general looked as sharp as it was when he first signed, and he could have had another assist for Adama after playing a beautiful chipped pass into the Spaniards path later in the first half. Got into lots of dangerous attacking positions as Wolves pushed more men forward in the second half whilst maintaining the legs to track back well. 8/10.

Adama Traore

Probably our best player in the first half, or at least the biggest constant threat to the Wolves backline with his willingness to bring the ball into space in the attacking third. Could’ve got a goal for himself with a half volley off the back of that Pereira pass but forced a good save from Jose Sa. Then it was his beautifully weighted pass that found Muniz baring down on goal for the winner. A really good performance from Adama who will be pushing for a start in the big game at Old Trafford now. 8/10.

Rodrigo Muniz

Muniz’s greatest asset off the ball now is how he plays with his back to goal and the way he uses his body to hold the ball up in possession. He caused Wolves’ back three absolute nightmares in the air and on the ground and that was epitomised in the opening minute in the way he took the ball out of the air, held it beautifully whilst others made runs around him, and played the pass which eventually led to the attack in which Fulham opened the scoring. Then in the opening moments of the second half, Muniz scored the winner, a beautifully timed run ending up in a gorgeously chipped finish over Sa. A brilliant all round showing. 8/10.

Substitutes

Alex Iwobi (67’ for Lukic)

Looked energised by the opportunity to come off the bench against tired legs after being given a much deserved and much needed rest. Completed a couple of nutmegs and mazy dribbles that simply mesmerised the Wolves defenders and worked well in added time to run the clock down in the corners. 6.5/10

Willian (67’ for Traore)

Thought his experience really showed in the way he helped Fulham see that final half an hour out and earn all three points. When Fulham lacked numbers in Wolves’ half he kept it well and waited for others to arrive, and in the last ten he was pivotal to holding the ball in their defensive third to see the game out. 6.5/10

Raul Jimenez (71’ for Muniz)

Honestly probably could have had a hat-trick with how many times he found himself in brilliant positions in front of goal. First he managed to put a one-on-one down Sa’s throat from the left hand side of the box and from there every Fulham chance late on seemed to fall at his feet and end up wide. At least he got the chances, I guess… 6/10.

Antonee Robinson (71’ for Sessegnon)

Like Iwobi, you really can’t argue that this wasn’t a hugely deserved rest and an opportunity to make the most of playing against tired legs for the final quarter of the game. Carried on the good work done by Sessegnon earlier in the game with a bit of additional pace down the flanks. 6/10.

Calvin Bassey (77’ for Cuenca) subbed on too late to be fairly assessed.

Manager

Marco Silva

I mean praise has to be given for the fact that Silva changed system, made five changes to freshen up the side and ultimately gain an important three points away from home. I think that has to be caveated by mentioning that this wasn’t Fulham at their best, but it was a different side to a Silva Fulham side in the way we grinded the result out and showed a really good mentality in the way we played. Having those starters gain the lead and bringing on the regular starters to see the win out felt like very clever game management and giving opportunities to the likes of Sessegnon, Muniz, Cuenca and Pereira, who all took those opportunities, has to be seen as superb man management. 7.5/10.