As the FA Cup firth-round reaches its conclusion for the weekend Wolves start the afternoon off with a huge 1-0 victory against Bristol City.
The Premier League club scored the only goal of the match at Ashton Gate, coming in the first-half after Ivan Cavaleiro guided a low strike past Frank Fielding, sending the travelling Wolves fans into raptures.
Up next, Crystal Palace travel to the Keepmoat Stadium to take on high-flying League One side Doncaster Rovers, but will have to take on Grant McCann’s men without talisman Wilfried Zaha, who is serving out a suspension.
Finally Swansea play host to Brentford in the other 4:00pm kick-off with the Welsh club looking to reach the quarter-finals in successive seasons for the first time since 1925/26 and 1926/27.
With that considered, what FA Cup action might you have missed this afternoon?
1. Deadly Doherty
Matt Doherty has now been directly involved in each of Wolves’ previous five goals in the FA Cup this campaign, scoring three times and registering two assists.
And it was his assist that broke the deadlock this afternoon, with the Republic of Ireland international demonstrating his excellent close control from a long ball forward, before skipping past Jay Dasilva and teeing up Cavaleiro, who duly dispatched.
The 27-year-old has received widespread adulation for his forcible thrusts forward from defence this season, and he showed once again why his full-back tenacity is so important to Nuno Espirito Santo’s high-octane style.
His previous contributions in this competition came against Shrewsbury in the fourth-round, scoring once in the 2-2 draw at New Meadow, before netting a brace and assisting once in the 3-2 replay win.
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2. Clinical Cavaleiro
With not much separating the sides in the opening exchanges, Cavaleiro opened the scoring with just the first shot of the match, coming in the 28th minute.
The 25-year-old found ample room in the box and was the recipient of a delectable Doherty delivery, firing a low strike past Frank Fielding in the Bristol City goal.
The former Benfica and Monaco forward has not quite been able to force his way into a continuous starting position in Espirito Santo’s XI, starting just five matches in the Premier League this season, but performances like the one at Ashton Gate will go a long way to helping his cause.
That was Cavaleiro’s fifth goal of the campaign – three in the league and two in the FA Cup – and he will now be hoping to push on and supplant either Jota or Helder Costa in the first-team.
3. A big Wolves fan
There was a four-legged furry fan in the away section of Ashton gate, and it certainly wasn’t a wolf, but rather a dog donning the traditional orange and black colours of Wolves.
Big Wolves fan at Ashton Gate.
pic.twitter.com/hUMyXDvEQX
— football.london (@Football_LDN) February 17, 2019
Crystal Palace aptly have Kayla the Eagle as their mascot, paying homage to their nickname the Eagles, but brining a real life wolf to a football match may be a stretch too far for those in the West Midlands.
A dog is certainly the next best thing, and combined with his club kit and scarf to match, the four-legged Wolves fan looked the part, and he will no doubt be in for a special celebratory treat when he gets home after a big result.
4. Wolves beat most in-form team in Europe
Prior to this match Bristol City were the most in-form team across Europe’s top five divisions in the last 10 matches, winning nine consecutive games and drawing once.
Lee Johnson’s men were ranked above Manchester City – who suffered one defeat in that time – Bayern Munich – who lost once and drew once – and Real Madrid – who also drew and lost once.
It was a run that took them into a Championship play-off position, but it was not enough to fend off Wolves this afternoon, with the club firing a blank for the first time in 16 matches.
Wolves have now reached the quarter-finals for the first time since the 2002/03 seasons and remain unbeaten against Bristol City in this competition, winning their only previous encounter 1-0 in 1972/73.
The post Wolves beat most in-form team in Europe: The FA Cup action you might have missed appeared first on Squawka News.
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