PAIK JI-HWAN paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Rodrigo Gomes celebrates scoring a goal during a Premier League match against Leicester City at King Power Stadium in England on Sunday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
Wolverhampton Wanderers thrashed Leicester City 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday, picking up a win in their new manager Vitor Pereira’s debut and cutting their four-game losing streak.
Wolves made the fixture at King Power Stadium in England a one-sided affair in the first half during which the visitors scored all three goals.
Goncalo Guedes capitalized on a long pass to slot the ball inside the penalty box to take the lead in the 19th minute, with Rodrigo Gomes also scoring in a similar pattern in the 36th minute.
Matheus Cunha added one more, scoring from a tight angle in the 44th minute that sealed Wolves’ perfect victory under Pereira.
Wolves forward Hwang Hee-chan came on in the 74th minute, but didn’t make enough impact to change the final score, failing to make his first goal contribution for the club this season.
Hwang has seen a poor start to the 2024-25 season with zero goal contributions across 13 appearances, a stark contrast to last season during which he finished the campaign as the team’s top scorer with 12 goals in 29 league matches.
For Wolves, Sunday’s win was their first since a 4-1 victory over Fulham on Nov. 24 and pushed Pereira’s squad to 18th place on the 20-team table.
The victory was also the team’s third league victory of the 2024-25 season, where they have only secured three wins from 17 fixtures.
Their poor performance this season resulted in replacing manager Gary O’Neil with Pereira, who has taken his first Premier League job after nearly 20 years of coaching career across 14 clubs in seven countries.
The new Wolves boss has the second half of the campaign to bounce back and avoid relegation which the club has not faced since 2012.
Wolves return to action in a match against Manchester United on Thursday.
BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]