Wolves 3-1 Burton Albion
- Published
Benik Afobe scored in consecutive games at Molineux for the first time since April 2015
Benik Afobe scored twice as Wolves beat struggling Burton to move six points clear at the top of the Championship.
Helder Costa took down Conor Coady's ball and lifted a finish over Stephen Bywater to give Wolves an early lead.
Afobe smashed into the top corner from a Ruben Neves through ball to double their advantage, but Lloyd Dyer's half-volley made it 2-1 before half-time.
On-loan Afobe sidefooted in from 10 yards to secure Wolves' win and stretch their lead over second-placed Cardiff.
Neil Warnock's Bluebirds can reduce the gap to three points if they record an eighth successive league win when they play Derby County on Sunday.
Afobe, who re-joined Wolves on loan from Bournemouth in January, came close to his first hat-trick since 29 November 2014 (in a 6-0 win for MK Dons against Colchester), but Bywater did well to keep the score down.
Burton scored with their only shot on target to end a run of four games without a goal when Dyer shot from a half-cleared corner through a crowd of legs.
But Wolves simply over-powered the Brewers, who remain three points from safety in 23rd place with one win from their last 12 Championship matches.
Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo:
"It was a good performance that showed control and character.
"We know that playing well takes you to victory, but the consistency from the team that we asked for was there. This is the most important part of it, as this is what we showed again.
"They played really well. The crowd supported us and I think they enjoyed it but at the same time the lads enjoyed playing."
Burton Albion manager Nigel Clough:
"The quality Wolves have is very close now to Premier League standard. This was the biggest mismatch in English football today.
"You have got £15 million players out there and that is more than half our budget. That shows the difference. With all the will in the world we didn't expect to get much.
"My only criticism of the players is the goals that we conceded. They were a little bit too easy from our point of view."
- Published9 March 2018
