Football – Highlight & Photos

Wolverhampton Wanderers’ season has the shot in the arm it so badly needed after a restorative victory over their local rivals West Bromwich Albion lifted them out of the relegation zone with two games remaining. Their fate is back in their own hands after the outstanding Steven Fletcher scored twice either side of the goal he set up for Adlène Guedioura to put Wolves into a three-goal lead that proved too much for Albion to claw back.

There were still some nervous moments for Wolves to endure after Peter Odemwingie dispatched his penalty-kick in the 54th minute to become the first player this season to score in five successive Premier League matches. Yet the second Albion goal that would have deepened the anxiety among the home supporters never arrived, leaving Mick McCarthy and his players to celebrate a first win in six matches that puts them above Wigan and Blackpool.

The two goals that gave Wolves a comfortable and deserved half-time lead were almost identical. Both came from Stephen Hunt corner-kicks and exposed abject marking in the six-yard box. Fletcher smashed in the first, after Guedioura chested the ball down, and the roles were reversed in the 28th minute. This time Fletcher climbed above Simon Cox to head across goal for Guedioura to volley in from two yards with no Albion player near him.

When Fletcher beat Scott Carson, after capitalising on a dreadful mistake from Abdoulaye Méïté, the game looked to be over, yet from the moment that Guedioura brought down Jerome Thomas in the penalty area the complexion of the game changed. Odemwingie converted from the spot and Albion took control. Wayne Hennessey produced a great save to deny Simon Cox, Thomas hit the bar and Somen Tchoyi headed inches as Wolves held on.