Nottingham Forest 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

  • Published
Diogo Jota celebrates the first of his two goal for Wolves against Forest at the City GroundImage source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Diogo Jota's two second-half strikes at the City Ground took his tally to five goals for the season

Diogo Jota grabbed a second-half double against Nottingham Forest to earn a win which takes Wolves up to second in the Championship table.

The on-loan Atletico Madrid midfielder slid in the opener from Ivan Cavaleiro's fine cross.

Substitute Mustapha Carayol levelled with an audacious shot from out wide that caught out keeper John Ruddy.

But Wolves remained sharper and more threatening in attack and Jota's cool strike on the break secured the points.

Leeds remain top on 17 points, ahead of Wolves and Cardiff on goal difference following the Welsh side's 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday.

The Molineux club, who have won five of their eight league games this season, were good value for their win despite not being at their best.

They created the better chances before the break, the best of which saw Leo Bonatini's close-range shot deflected wide by Joe Worrall after great approach play by left wing-back Ruben Vinagre.

Tame efforts by Daryl Murphy, Kieran Dowell and Liam Bridcutt were as good as the hosts could muster until Carayol saw Ruddy trying to sneak off his line in anticipation of a cross to make it 1-1.

But Jota exchanged passes with the impressive Bonatini to net his fifth goal of the season and consign Forest to a fourth defeat from their eight league games.

Nottingham Forest manager Mark Warburton:

"The first half was a good game of football, it was a game of chess. We knew focus was important. At half-time we knew we had to come out and take care of the football.

"We knew that if we gave the ball away, they would punish us. And they did.

"There is no lack of work ethic, desire or commitment - but you cannot be loose. We were loose with the ball and we got punished for it.

Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo:

"We learned from the last game. There were no mistakes. We did not give very much away.

"This shows that we have character. This shows that we are growing. The team is getting better, we are growing and can get even better.

"The players enjoy themselves, but they also know they need to be very aggressive. We have to be consistent, we have to press, we have to react when we lose the ball."

Sorry, we can't display this part of the article any more.

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.