The Seagulls enjoyed the better chances early on but were struggling for that killer touch, as Wolves looked for counter attacking opportunities.
Matheus Cunha had a big chance in the opening seconds of the second half but his composure from close range let him down, as neither side found their shooting boots.
In the end, both teams settled for a point, with Wolves now turning their attentions to the FA Cup Black Country derby.
Matheus Cunha had a big chance in the opening seconds of the second half but his composure from close range let him down, as neither side found their shooting boots.
In the end, both teams settled for a point, with Wolves now turning their attentions to the FA Cup Black Country derby.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 [Music playing]
00:09 Hello I'm Nathan Duda, I'm here with Wolves Reporter, it is Mr Liam Keane.
00:14 Liam, Brighton nil, Wolves nil, not a classic, not one we'll remember with love at the end of the season
00:20 but goodness me, compared to last year, we'll take that won't we?
00:23 Considering there was a 6-0 this time, well in April wasn't it?
00:26 Yeah.
00:27 Towards the end of the season last year.
00:28 Yeah, a lot better. I think it's an easy comparison to make but it's a nice way of showing how far this Wolves team have come
00:35 because I think Brighton had the better of the first half, they had good chances, Wolves had one or two on the counter
00:39 but Brighton had the, I'd say the dominated possession, better chances, overall probably better.
00:44 But more likely to score.
00:45 More likely to score, better side. And I think it was reversed in the second half really, Brighton again had a couple good chances
00:50 but Brighton had, sorry Wolves had two or three on the break and really should have taken the lead
00:56 within seconds of that second half starting, should have taken the lead through Mateusz Kunia as well.
01:01 Yeah, look first half, interesting obviously, the main talking point I guess was at the very end of the half.
01:06 Look, Billy Gilmore, Mateusz Kunia were at a battle throughout the game.
01:09 Gilmore was obviously under specific instructions from De Zerby to really get at Kunia, to make sure that you follow him.
01:16 It was almost a man-to-man marking job in that first half.
01:18 Which is smart by the way, because Kunia makes his Wolves team tick doesn't he?
01:20 Absolutely, and look he obviously is between the midfield and the forward and that's what makes De Zerby one of the better coaches in this league.
01:25 However, Gilmore made a couple of fouls, got away with one, got away with a booking really,
01:29 was a little bit of an elbow there, but then all of a sudden Gilmore falls over at the end of the half.
01:33 Kunia gets booked for it, which is a shocking decision from Craig Pawson.
01:36 It wasn't a booking.
01:37 Never been a, it wasn't a foul I don't think.
01:39 No, no, no.
01:40 And then the Wolves plays at eye rate, Kunia's eye rate, he's been held back, and I feel like after that he didn't look like he was quite in the game did he, second half?
01:50 His head went a little bit, Mateusz Kunia.
01:51 And maybe you might say job well done there from Billy Gilmore. He was to disrupt wanted this evening.
01:57 Yeah, exactly, and considering how important Kunia is to making this Wolves team tick, as I just said, the way that he links midfield, defence and attack together, he is the glue for this attacking side.
02:09 And it was important for Brighton to keep him quiet, but if he takes that chance seconds into the second half, which he had two bites of it in the second one, he definitely should have hit the target minimum,
02:20 probably scored, or he takes that chance when Neto runs through, plays a lovely ball to the back post, Kunia who's been told time and time again by Gary Neal, got a lot better at it this season, arrived at the far post.
02:31 Gamble, get yourself out there.
02:32 Exactly. He goes to make the run and stops himself waiting for the cutback. If he carries that run on he's got to tap him.
02:38 So those two moments had nothing to do with Brighton and Billy Gilmore, and if Kunia makes the right decision in those two moments, Wolves win that game in the end.
02:46 So as much as your point stands that yes, I think Gilmore and Brighton did a good tactical job on Kunia, and Kunia lost his head a little bit, got lost in the emotion of the game and didn't really get stuck in.
02:55 Had he taken a better decision in those two opportunities, he probably walked away with two goals and won 2-0. So it's the fine margins of Premier League football.
03:04 Yeah, like I said, not a classic game tonight, but I thought the two players did very, very well, Tommy Doyle and Nelson Tomeida.
03:09 Yeah, agreed, both of them. Tomeida, there was one recovery tackle. Someone did mention to me on Twitter that he might have been offside, but the lineman didn't flag.
03:17 From what we saw, we didn't see an angle of it being offside. All I could see was a magnificent recovery tackle from Tomeida.
03:24 Going forward, didn't do loads this evening, but it's because of the way Wolves were playing, really.
03:29 I thought tactically, though, defensively, he was very switched on to that one too.
03:32 Exactly, and that was more to do with the tactics rather than his performance, but defensively he was superb.
03:37 One of the chances up here that Neto created was from a reverse pass from Tomeida that was absolutely perfect.
03:43 So, yeah, really impressed with Tomeida tonight. Him and Doyle, I think, were probably the two standouts.
03:48 Doyle, next to Lamina, who understandably, for obvious reasons, not quite up to the pace of the game tonight, did well later on when he was sitting so deep and just breaking the game up.
03:59 But maybe caught up a little bit in the frantic nature of the game earlier on.
04:03 Doyle, next to him, I thought, broke the game up really well, got stuck in, won the ball, made lovely passes out wide.
04:09 Just both sides of the game where he was both technical, intricate and also aggressive.
04:14 So, you know, he's come on strides really in the last month or so, Tommy Doyle.
04:19 Pedro Neto's first start since his hamstring injury. Threatening, obviously very good on the counter.
04:26 He's had quite a lot of space in these last two games, probably more than I think everybody expected him to be.
04:30 He's not quite at that level yet, is he? He's bubbling under, though. He's bubbling under, but a little bit wasteful at times.
04:36 Yeah, wasteful's the right word. He's almost there, isn't he? You can see it.
04:40 It's just getting back up into, again, the speed of the game, it's the right decisions.
04:44 And he just looked a little flat at times. When he does get into the right positions, he put lovely crosses in, he took the players on.
04:51 He's still a dangerous footballer, even when he's at probably about 70% right now.
04:56 I would say about that, yeah.
04:58 He's got more to come. I think he needs to build that fitness up, build his resilience up to that intensity of Premier League football.
05:05 But yeah, he's almost there. He's probably frustrated to come off, but probably the right decision.
05:09 But like you say, a point here, especially coming into last season in a club that's in European football, absolutely there's no complaints there.
05:17 And a good side, a very good side, yeah.
05:18 Very good side. They were a bit short-shirted tonight. I think a lot of the fans were kind of frustrated at Brighton.
05:22 There were a couple around us who were a little bit strange, but it's fine.
05:25 We move on though, and I think everybody now, let's get this over, let's get out with a point.
05:29 Gary Neal I think will be a little bit disappointed because you look at Jason Steele, he's probably the busiest keeper tonight.
05:33 I didn't really have a save to make, but all the fans are looking forward to Sunday.
05:37 11.45 kick-off at the Hawthorns. It's West Brom, it's Wolves, and well, it's just going to be delicious.
05:44 It's got fireworks written all over it, hasn't it?
05:46 Yeah, and I keep reiterating this point, and I'm going to keep saying it.
05:50 I think we have to put pressure on Wolves because Wolves should puff their chests out and say,
05:55 "We're the Premier League side, we're going to go win this game."
05:57 100%. And we're going to win it well.
05:59 Exactly, exactly. And I don't normally talk like that because I think it's fair to analyse the game more thoroughly when it comes to Premier League fixtures.
06:08 But with this one, this is a good championship squad for West Brom, but it is just that, it's a championship squad.
06:15 This is a very light Wolves team, they've got small in numbers, but a very talented side.
06:22 Six unbeaten now in competitions, they're in a good place.
06:25 They have to go there and assert their dominance a little bit, and show off a little bit if I'm being honest.
06:32 If they come away with a scrappy 1-0 win, we'll still take it. It's a win.
06:35 But I think they have to go there and show their true colours a little bit.
06:39 Look, we've got an amazing lot of build-up this week, we've got loads of stuff going on. We've got podcasts, we've got videos, we've got so many articles, we've got features, we've got opinion pieces,
06:49 celebrity interviews, it's going to be great, it's going to be fantastic.
06:52 But, from the side that played tonight, Liam, do we expect to see the same line-up now for Hall of Fons on Sunday?
06:58 I think it's that exact 11, because Lamine got through 19, which again, I don't want to criticise him too much for the obvious reasons,
07:07 but I don't know how he got through 19, because he was puffing at the end, he was knackered.
07:10 He was blowing, yeah.
07:11 But I think he has to play, if he's there. I think Neto, 87 minutes tonight, has to play.
07:16 They're probably the only two, really, that question marks in terms of fitness.
07:19 Yeah, Sarabia was on his best, but the Bellaguard didn't really do much when he came on, did they?
07:22 Exactly, yeah. I think Sarabia gets the nod. They're probably the only three decisions, maybe.
07:27 With it being a cup game, maybe you give Santi another chance.
07:31 I don't think so, I'd be stunned.
07:32 I'd be surprised. I think they're the only possible options he's got to make changes.
07:37 Hugo, for one, he could be, but I thought Doc did well enough tonight, did okay.
07:40 Hugo's not been quite at it fitness-wise, so I think it's that exact 11, to be honest.
07:45 I think they go out there and do a job.
07:47 Can't wait. And here it's Brighton, Neil Walsh, and for all the personality reaction, make sure you log on to Expressenstar@haddox.com.