Nuno Espírito Santo exhibited the calm of a Buddhist teacher and delivered his koans after this comfortable victory. “It’s not the where, it’s not the who, it’s the how,” the Portuguese said. “I keep on saying that because it’s important. The first step the boys took was to assume that defeat in the last game was not the way. This is the first step and we took it together. We stood up together and it was good.”
It certainly was. A loss at Loftus Road against QPR had cast momentary aspersions on Wolves’ credentials as favourites for Championship promotion. Three days later and they have returned to the top of the division. Composed and controlled they could have scored several more than just the two goals against a Norwich side who themselves had lost only one game in nine.
Both Willy Boly’s first-half header and Léo Bonatini’s second-half volley came on the end of set pieces, but Wolves tore Norwich to shreds on the counterattack. Inside-forwards Diogo Jota and Ivan Cavaleiro were simply too hot to handle and only a series of last-ditch blocks kept the scoreline anywhere near respectable for the hosts.
“They deserved to win 100% on the night,” the Norwich manager Daniel Farke admitted. “Normally I am sad and annoyed and look for the reasons for a defeat but today it was pretty easy. We faced an opponent with bigger quality than us. The team we played today were the best I have faced in this division.”
Both these teams went to extra time against top-six Premier League opposition in the Carabao Cup last week and both lost their league matches at the weekend. But while Wolves restored their strongest XI, Norwich were light up front, opting to play the Welsh wing Marley Watkins as an unfamiliar No9.
Watkins might have opened the scoring in the 13th minute only to see his flicked header from a James Maddison free-kick ping off the far post. Four minutes later however and Wolves forced a succession of corners that ended in the decisive breakthrough. After two short corners forced first a block from Timm Klose then a save from Angus Gunn, Rúben Neves drove a longer ball to the penalty spot where centre-half Boly was completely free and able to flick his header into the far corner.
A blistering opening to the second half should have seen Wolves at least double their lead, only for Alfred N’Diaye and Bonatini to miss their cues. The Brazilian made amends however when Norwich failed twice to adequately clear a free-kick and he bounced a volley past Gunn.
The visitors took their foot off the pedal after their second goal, perhaps grateful to have to dig no deeper into their reserves of energy. Norwich continued to persevere but a clearance scooped by Boly past John Ruddy but over his own bar was the closest they came to a consolation. Norwich were welcoming Ruddy back to Carrow Road for the first time since he left in the summer after seven years at the club, but he barely had a save to make in the match.
Farke remained upbeat after the game, citing his side’s injuries in attack and claiming that his young players, such as Josh Murphy and the highly impressive Maddison, can raise their level close to that of the Wolves squad as the season progresses.
For Nuno however, the temporal concerns are more immediate. “The result is the future, the present is the game,” the Portuguese said. “Tomorrow we go back to work.”
