Cardiff City 2 Wolves 1: Hoilett stunner consigns visitors to fifth loss in six

Wolves were unable to prevent their winless run extending to six Premier League matches as they lost 2-1 at Cardiff City thanks to Junior Hoilett’s stunning late strike.

Nuno Espirito Santo has come under pressure of late because of Wolves’ poor run and they put in another disappointing showing in Wales on Friday, as Cardiff clawed their way out of the bottom three.

Wolves were second best for most of the first half, but went into the break ahead thanks to Matt Doherty’s second Premier League goal.

Cardiff stepped things up after the interval and deservedly levelled in the 65th minute through Aron Gunnarsson, and Hoilett netted a glorious winner 13 minutes from the end to consign Wolves to a fifth defeat in six games.

Wolves were guilty of a laborious start, but they took the lead with their first purposeful attack – Doherty slamming home from close range on his 200th league appearance for Wolves after Neil Etheridge parried Raul Jimenez’s header at a corner.

Cardiff continued to look the brighter of the two teams thereafter, but it took them until the 37th minute to really threaten Wolves, as Harry Arter’s sweetly struck half volley crashed back off the top of the left-hand post.

The hosts eventually got themselves a justified equaliser with 25 minutes left – Gunnarsson producing a spectacular finish from close range after Sean Morrison headed an Arter delivery into the danger zone.

Hoilett completed the turnaround late on, his gorgeous curling effort from the edge of the penalty area going in off the crossbar.  

Wolves piled the pressure on towards the end, but Cardiff held out and there was to be no repeat of last season’s full-time spat between Nuno and counterpart Neil Warnock, as the pair shook hands after the final whistle.

1 – Cardiff midfielder Aron Gunnarsson has scored his first Premier League goal since August 2013, when he netted the Bluebirds’ first ever goal in the competition (v Manchester City). Bookends. #CARWOL pic.twitter.com/GIXIZmOl9e

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 30, 2018

What does it mean? Warnock’s surprise set-up makes good impression

Supporters were bemused to see Cardiff go with a 3-5-2 formation before kick-off, but it actually saw them control the match and nullify the threat of most of Wolves’ attacking players. It would have been harsh had they not taken all three points.

Morrison marshals well

A strong presence at the back against Jimenez and Traore, Morrison also made himself a nuisance in the opposing area – getting himself an assist for Gunnarsson’s equaliser

Traore makes little impact

Deployed in attack alongside Jimenez, Traore was undoubtedly playing because of the lack of pace in Cardiff’s defence. However, he had little impact, as he was wasteful in possession and unable to hold the ball up very well.

Key Opta Facts

– Cardiff have won consecutive home games in the same top-flight season for the first time since the 1961-62 campaign.

– This was the first time Wolves have lost a league game that they opened the scoring in since February 2017 (1-2 v Burton Albion), ending a run of 44 such games without defeat.

– Cardiff have picked up nine of their 11 Premier League points this season from trailing positions, the joint-most in the division alongside Arsenal.

What’s next?

Cardiff travel to West Ham on Tuesday, while Wolves host Chelsea a day later.