Fulham 3 (Sessegnon 9, Wilson 62, Mosquera OG 75) Wolves 0
Wolves were second best all afternoon at Craven Cottage as Fulham dominated their Premier League meeting to leave the Old Gold winless in their first 10 top flight outings of the season.
Having been slow staters in recent weeks, Wolves fell behind inside the opening 10 minutes after Fulham opened the scoring through Ryan Sessegnon, and the visitor’s chance to get back into the game were made even harder after being reduced to 10 with the dismissal of Emmanuel Agbadou before half time.
The 10 men barely had a sniff at goal in the second half, while Fulham ramped up the pressure and found the net through Harry Wilson just after the hour mark, before a painful afternoon was rounded off when Yerson Mosquera put through his own net late on, as Wolves became the first team in top flight history to go their first 10 games of a season winless in successive campaigns.
Making nine changes from the team which started the Carabao Cup defeat to Chelsea in midweek, Pereira’s side began brightly in west London, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde played into space just outside the Fulham box, and after getting the ball onto his left foot, the Haitian fired an effort on target but couldn’t beat Bernd Leno.
Wolves continued to put pressure on the Cottagers as Hugo Bueno saw a corner punched away before a Toti long throw also caused trouble in the Fulham defence, but the visitors were unable to find a way through.
However, Fulham soon got into their groove and after twice almost getting in down the Wolves right but being stopped by Agbadou, opened the scoring through Sessegnon.
Santiago Bueno attempted to cut out a pass but inadvertently directed the ball to former Old Gold striker Raul Jimenez who laid the ball to Sessegnon into the space left by Bueno, who slid a finish underneath Sam Johnstone in the Wolves goal.
Wolves struggled to get back into the contest in the first half, with Fulham having much of the attacking impetus. Wilson firstly slammed a free-kick into the chest of Bellegarde from a dangerous position before the Welshman dragged a shot wide after getting inside Hugo Bueno moments later.
The visitor’s job became even more difficult with five minutes of the half remaining when Agbadou was dismissed. The Ivorian brought Josh King down outside the Wolves box and was adjudged to have denied the Fulham man with a goal scoring opportunity and was shown the red card.
With 10 men, Wolves were under plenty of pressure from the white shirts, with Kenny Tete twice getting into crossing positions but Johnstone remained untroubled.
Wolves’ best chance of the game came in the final minute of added time when Ki-Jana Hoever’s cross into the six -yard box was just out of reach for Jorgen Strand Larsen, before a return cross was headed at Leno by Ladislav Krejci.
Half-time | Fulham 1-0 Wolves
Pereira tried to change the run of play in the second half with a triple substitution at the break, but reverting to a back five left his side with little threat in attack while also inviting Fulham onto the attack, and the Whites ran all over the Old Gold.
If not for Johnstone in goal, Fulham could have racked up five or six goals during a dismal second half, with the keeper forced into making several key stops at full stretch to keep out the hosts. The first came just five minutes after the break with Tete’s effort from 20 yards – heading in the top corner – was turned around the post.
Johnstone then had to deny Jimenez from close range after a corner was headed back into the six yard box by Andersen and the Mexican was denied. While in the closing stages, the keeper was again using his fingertips to stop Samuel Chukwueze whose curling effort was stopped just before it crossed the line.
In between those chances, Fulham did find the back of the net twice, the first of those through Wilson. Wolves didn’t deal with an initial cross into the box by Jimenez, with Krejci only half clearing Sander Berge’s effort, with the ball rebounding kindly for the Welshman who curled his effort inside the far post.
Wilson almost scored a carbon copy of his goal just five minutes later as he cut onto his left foot and aimed a shot inside the post, but this time, Johnstone was equal to his effort.
However, Johnstone couldn’t stop Fulham’s third of the afternoon as Alex Iwobi played Sessegnon down the Wolves right and his ball into the near post was turned into his own net by Mosquera. Moments later, it was almost four for the hosts as Chukwueze struck the post from 10 yards out after the ball bounced around the box and wasn’t cleared by the Old Gold defenders.
The Wolves fans were magnificent throughout the 90 minutes inside Craven Cottage, but showed their displeasure at full-time after watching their side’s search for a Premier League win this season continue.
Full-time | Fulham 3-0 Wolves
Fulham | Leno, Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon, Berge, Iwobi (Traore 89), Wilson (Chukwueze 77), King (Cairney 72), Kevin (Smith Rowe 72), Jimenez (Muniz 72).
Unused subs | Lecomte, Cuenca, Castagne, Lukic.
Wolves | Johnstone, Hoever (Tchatchoua 45), S Bueno, Agbadou, Toti (Mosquera 45), H Bueno, Krejci, Munetsi, Bellegarde (Arokodare 64), Arias (J Gomes 45), Strand Larsen (Andre 77).
Unused subs | Sa, Wolfe, Lopez, Hwang.
