O´Neil heaps praise on Cunha after Wolves´ first Premier League win

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Gary O’Neil was full of praise for Matheus Cunha after his side earned their first Premier League win of the season with a 2-0 defeat of Southampton.

The Brazilian attacker’s delightful pass had allowed Pablo Sarabia to open the scoring at Molineux with only one minute and 48 seconds on the clock.

It was Wolves’ fastest-ever Premier League goal, eclipsing Matt Jarvis’ strike against Blackpool in February 2011 (1:56).

But Cunha did not stop there as he wrote his name on the scoresheet with a stunning strike from distance to put Wolves two to the good six minutes into the second half.

“Cunha is huge for us. He has such ability but he is one of those players who drifts and takes up positions,” O’Neil told BBC Sport after the game.

“We work very hard on him – on how it is to be a trusted team player when we don’t have the ball. He’s worked very hard on it after I spoke harshly to him after Brentford away.

“It’s a big win for us and Cunha had a big say in it.”

Back to winning ways pic.twitter.com/mBrFeMxu6Z

— Wolves (@Wolves) November 9, 2024

Their first win of the season, which ended a 13-game winless streak in the English top-flight (P11 W1 D3 L7), comes at a pivotal time for Wolves, who climbed off the bottom of the table and now have six points from 11 matches.

“We spoke a lot this week about everyone being responsible. We did a lot of work on out-of-possession stuff,” O’Neil added.

They will next travel to Fulham on November 23 hoping to build on the momentum.

“It’s going to be a big fight for us but we know we can turn it around,” O’Neil said.

Southampton now find themselves bottom of the table having collected only four points so far.

They will also feel hard done by after Ryan Manning’s equaliser in the 12th minute was ruled out after a VAR review for a foul by Mateus Fernandes on Nelson Semedo in the build-up.

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— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) November 9, 2024

“I think it’s open to interpretation. Semedo doesn’t try to play the ball. he puts his leg across him and then there’s contact. We were expecting a penalty,” a frustrated Russell Martin said.

It is what it is. It’s disappointing when you’re on the end of two tough calls”

Martin’s side are now without a win in their last 13 away Premier League games (D2 L11), and are the first team to lose nine consecutive away matches in the top tier since Norwich City in 2021.

“We should have done better. We have a lack of punch. We have to create. We need to work really hard to try and improve,” Martin added.