Wolverhampton Wanderers made a dream start to life under Vitor Pereira, who oversaw a 3-0 victory over Leicester City in his first Premier League match in charge.
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The visitors hit the ground running under Pereira, who replaced Gary O’Neil earlier this week, while also notching their first ever top-flight triumph at King Power Stadium.
Goals from Goncalo Guedes and Rodrigo Gomes put Wolves in charge of the Midlands derby between two of the division’s bottom four sides.
Matheus Cunha was also on target before the break to put the contest beyond the Foxes, who suffered their first home defeat under Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Wolves’ victory saw them leapfrog Ipswich Town to 18th place and move within two points of the Foxes, who remain in 17th.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
17 | -8 | 16 |
| 17 |
Leicester
LEI
|
17 | -16 | 14 |
| 18 |
Wolves
WOL
|
17 | -13 | 12 |
| 19 |
Ipswich
IPS
|
17 | -16 | 12 |
| 20 |
Southampton
SOU
|
17 | -25 | 6 |
How the match unfolded
Wolves opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Nelson Semedo's lofted ball into the box was neatly hooked into the far-left corner by Guedes.
The visitors doubled their advantage in the 36th minute, with a breakdown in communication between James Justin and Danny Ward allowing Gomes to bundle home Matt Doherty's searching pass.
Wolves then grabbed a third goal a minute before the break, with Guedes this time turning provider for Cunha to fire home his ninth goal of the season, with the aid of a touch from Ward.
Leicester looked to respond after the break, with Jamie Vardy hitting the side-netting from a tight angle, before heading straight at Jose Sa minutes later.
The Foxes carried the greater attacking threat for large periods of the second half, with Vardy again thwarted by the Wolves goalkeeper late on from inside the penalty area.
Wolves could have added further gloss to the scoreline when an unmarked Joao Gomes headed wide in the 83rd minute, though at that point, the three points were safely in the bag.
Leicester draw first home blank
The Foxes made a decent start under Van Nistelrooy, with four points from his opening two matches in charge, before the Dutchman was handed a reality check courtesy of last weekend’s resounding 4-0 defeat at Newcastle United.
After Sa raced out of goal to deny Vardy early on, his side’s defensive frailties were exposed once more. They were slow to react to Semedo’s ball into the box for Guedes’ goal. Justin and Ward were then clearly on different wavelengths for Wolves’ second goal, as the former let Doherty’s hopeful ball run on, expecting his goalkeeper to come and collect.
Vardy went close to halving the deficit, though Toti Gomes’ excellent goalline clearance to deny him proved crucial, with the visitors quickly going down the other end and making it 3-0.
Wolves famously overturned a 3-0 half-time deficit to win 4-3 in the first Premier League meeting between the sides back in October 2003.
However, it never looked likely that Leicester would return the favour, as they failed to find the net at home for the first time this season, with leaders Liverpool up next on Boxing Day.
Victory for Vitor on Premier League bow
Fresh from four successive defeats that culminated in the departure of O’Neil, Wolves would not necessarily have been relishing the prospect of visiting a Premier League ground on which they had never previously won. In fact, their six previous attempts had seen them score just one goal.
Yet, within 45 minutes, Pereira had already made Wolves history. Indeed, this was the first time they had led a Premier League match by three or more goals at half-time.
With Leicester struggling defensively, his new side took full advantage and demonstrated their ruthlessness and clinical edge to take a firm grasp of the contest.
Wolves will have been wary heading into the second half, having conceded 40 Premier League goals already this season, with their only clean sheet coming in a win over bottom side Southampton.
However, the defence stood firm and never seemed in danger of surrendering their advantage.
Following unsavoury endings to their two previous matches, Wolves will hope to see more of this going forward. Although, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest await in their next three matches, they will enter them with momentum after a morale-boosting win.
Club reports
Leicester report | Wolves report
What the managers said
Vitor Pereira: "Today I am happy as the team showed spirit and the spirit that Wolves supporters want to see. I believe that we will stay in the Premier League and we will play at a better level than we saw today."
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Match facts
Wolves have won a Premier League match away from home by three or more goals for just the third time, while they have done so for the second occasion this season – their most across a single campaign in the competition (also 4-1 v Fulham).
Leicester have lost a Premier League home match against Wolves for the very first time (W4 D2), while this was their first league defeat by three or more goals on home soil since May 2023 against Liverpool (0-3).
Wolves have kept a clean sheet in an away Premier League match for the first time in 17 matches (0-0 v Brighton in January), while this is their first away win without conceding in the competition since a 1-0 victory at Everton in August 2023.
Goncalo Guedes has been directly involved in six goals across his last eight Premier League matches (two goals and four assists), after managing just two goal involvements across his first 19 English top-flight appearances.
