Carabao Cup: Nottingham Forest 0-4 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Daniel Podence was making his first appearance for Wolves this season after undergoing groin surgery earlier this summerImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Daniel Podence was making his first appearance for Wolves this season after groin surgery

Wolves secured their first win of the season as they beat out-of-form Nottingham Forest to reach the Carabao Cup third round.

The visitors almost took the lead when Daniel Podence got on to Rayan Ait-Nouri's cross, but Ethan Horvath saved.

Romain Saiss eventually put Wolves ahead just before the hour mark, and Podence soon doubled their lead.

Francisco Trincao's late close-range finish and Morgan Gibbs-White's 20-yard curler sealed the victory.

Both sides came into the tie on a losing run, and Forest made 10 changes to the side that lost to Stoke, while Wolves made seven alterations of their own.

The visitors have lost to both Leicester and Tottenham in the Premier League, but have played some impressive football without reward this term.

And Podence, who returned from injury to start, was a constant threat in a dominant first half, almost putting his side ahead with a shot from an acute angle that cannoned off the post.

They were finally rewarded when Saiss poked home from Ki-Jana Hoever's cross, and they were two up just moments later when Podence slotted home from Fabio Silva's delivery.

Late goals from Trincao and Gibbs-White added to the misery for Chris Hughton's side, who have now lost five out of six games in all competitions this term.

Nottingham Forest boss Chris Hughton: "I am incredibly proud of this young group, who would have been excited when they saw the team Wolves put out.

"We had to rely on Ethan Horvath to make some excellent saves. Two of the goals were quite soft and, without those, it would have been a credible result for a side that included seven academy lads.

"We held them for an hour. I am proud tonight; prouder than I was when we beat Bradford in the first round. We had to work really hard for possession. We will learn immensely from this game."

Wolves head coach Bruno Lage told BBC WM 95.6: "It was a good game and we did what we planned with the way we want to play. In the end it was the same as against Tottenham, more ball, press high and create chances.

"We feel confident with the work we are doing and we are happy with the result. Daniel Podence started working with us about one week ago, I spoke him this morning about playing and I said it's like his pre-season and he would play 45 minutes.

"I gave him more minutes which was good because he scored. This competition is massively important for us."

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