Nuno delighted with Wolves´ Europa League efforts

Nuno Espirito Santo declared himself delighted as Wolves ended the Europa League group stage with a resounding 4-0 home win over Besiktas on Thursday.

Braga’s 4-2 win away to Slovan Bratislava ensured they secured top spot in Group K despite Wolves demolishing their Turkish opponents in the second half at Molineux.

Diogo Jota’s introduction off the bench was the catalyst for a scoring spree, the substitute grabbing the fastest Europa League hat-trick since 2014. 

Leander Dendoncker atoned for an earlier miss from close range by finding the net with a header, helping the Premier League side cruise to victory as they look forward to Monday’s last-32 draw.

“I think, in the end, we performed well,” Nuno told a news conference. “We didn’t fight for a particular place [in the group].

“We fought game by game to see where it takes us. It has taken us to the knockout stage, and we are delighted to be there.”

. @EuropaLeague group stages  pic.twitter.com/QFtNQ8Umpo

— Wolves (@Wolves) December 12, 2019

Nuno’s decision to send on Jota early in the second half proved the turning point in the match, the forward hitting a treble in 11 minutes.

“We’re really pleased,” he added. “When you make a sub, you try to change the game and find the best solution. Diogo did fantastically well.”

Wolves have only lost once in any competition since mid-September, going out of the EFL Cup at the hands of Aston Villa, with Jota hailing their fine form.

“I think everyone that is on the bench wants to come on and make an impact, fortunately for me that impact was very good,” Jota said to BT Sport. “I’m very happy with the result.

“We are playing well and having good results and just want to keep going. Our main goal was to get through the group stage and we accomplished that. Now we keep going game by game.”