Wolves earned a hard-fought point against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, with one of Gary O’Neil’s stars leaving BBC pundit Garth Crooks in awe for his display.
Wolves earned a point away from home on Saturday against Nottingham Forest as Nuno Espirito Santo tried to get the best of Gary O’Neil at the City Ground.
It was a well-contested game between the two sides who were on the hunt for three points, with Forest hoping to steer away from the bottom three with only five games left to play.
For Wolves, the desire to earn three points was to rebuild form, having failed to win in their previous three league fixtures before their trip across the Midlands.
A 20-minute flurry of action between the first and second half saw the points split, with O’Neil’s side taking the lead five minutes from the interval before the hosts equalised just before the whistle.
In the second half, Nuno’s side fought back to take the lead early on, a goal that was responded to once more by the formidable Matheus Cunha just after the hour mark.
While it was a valiant effort for the Old Gold to walk away with a point for all of Forest’s pressure amid their fight for survival, one star stood out for Wolves and subsequently received high praise from Garth Crooks.
Matheus Cunha praised for his display against Nottingham Forest by Garth Crooks
If any Wolves player was going to be named in BBC Sports Team of the Week, it was going to be Cunha, who scored twice to ensure the O’Neil’s side earned a point.
The Brazilian was rightly selected by Crooks to make the best XI in the Premier League from Matchday 33, with the pundit lauding the forward as “exquisite.”
“Forest-Wolves was a fabulous contest between two Midlands rivals. If Gibbs-White was the star of the show for Nottingham Forest then Matheus Cunha was the man of the moment for Wolves.”
“The Brazilian cut Forest to pieces on one occasion and then robbed them of two points on another. His first goal was like he was doing samba footwork as he danced around three Forest defenders before smashing the most exquisite shot past Matz Sels.”
Cunha was certainly the highlight of Wolves’ display against Forest, dazzling in the final third to show O’Neil just what he’d been missing when he was away from the action.
Matheus Cunha’s return has come at the perfect time for Wolves
Losing Cunha at the start of February was an agonising loss for the Old Gold, with the 24-year-old hitting searing form before sustaining a hamstring blow against Brentford.
Considering the time it had taken for the Brazil international to really find his feet at Molineux, there was naturally some worry about whether his injury would momentarily buffer his potency in front of goal.
As seen against Forest, that’s certainly not the case as the forward looked as though he’d never left, scoring a magnificent opener and a poachers goal to get Wolves back in the game.
Having scored 11 goals in the Premier League so far, Cunha has found his confidence in England, blowing last season’s tally of two out of the water to repay the faith the club have in his ability.