Sports

Europa League: Wolves beat Pyunik 4-0 for a 8-0 aggregate win


Jota scored nine goals in the Premier League for Wolves last season

Diogo Jota scored a stunning acrobatic volley as Wolves beat Armenians Pyunik 4-0 at Molineux and 8-0 on aggregate to set up a Europa League play-off tie with Italian side Torino.

Jota came off the bench late on to power home a sublime finish from Raul Jimenez’s excellent lob.

Pedro Neto opened the scoring with a debut goal before academy graduate Morgan Gibbs-White turned in a cross.

Ruben Vinagre made it 3-0 from close range before Jota struck.

The 8-0 aggregate win is Wolves’ biggest in Europe and means they are now just two games away from reaching the Europa League group stage.

But they will face a sterner test in Serie A side Torino, who beat FC Shakhtyor of Belarus 6-1 on aggregate. The two games against the Italians will take place on 22 and 29 August.

Wolves are competing in Europe for the first time since 1980 and recorded their biggest ever continental victory in Armenia last week with a 4-0 win.

That result allowed them to be more relaxed about the return leg at Molineux and, unsurprisingly, manager Nuno Espirito Santo rang the changes.

Only skipper Conor Coady and Joao Moutinho retained their places from the side that drew with Leicester in their Premier League opener, while Jesus Vallejo, Neto and Patrick Cutrone were all given their full debuts.

Morgan Gibbs-White scored his first senior goal for Wolves on his 46th appearance for the club

The lack of urgency was clear in a first half largely devoid of chances and it was not until early in the second half that Wolves registered their first shot on target, Gibbs-White hitting an effort straight at the Pyunik goalkeeper.

But that chance seemed to stir the hosts into life and any glimmer of hope Pyunik had of staging an unlikely comeback was ended by a devastating 10-minute spell in which the hosts scored three and could have had more.

At 3-0 up, Nuno may have been tempted to tell his players to ease up but instead brought on star forwards Jota and Jimenez.

And the pair combined for a sensational goal as Jimenez scooped the ball up for Jota to dispatch a stunning volley.

Wolves looked comfortable in their first season back in the Premier League as they finished seventh. But the addition of competing in Europe this time presents an additional challenge – a congested fixture list.

Their progression to the play-off round means they face the prospect of five games in just 16 days between now and 1 September.

What they said

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo: “It wasn’t easy. Pyunik started the game very well again. I’ve spoken to their coach and wish them all the best for the future.

“I thought all my players did a very good job, not just the new players. The second-half display was very good.

“It was a good game. I think we started the game normally because some players take more time. As the game went by we started performing better and the second half was very, very good.

“I am pleased with all the team, all the players did a very good job.”





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.