Wolves up and running for the season as Hwang Hee-chan seals victory over Watford
Watford 0-2 Wolves: Hwang nets late on after Sierralta had scored an own goal
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Your support makes all the difference.Hwang Hee-chan scored on his debut as Wolves claimed their first goal, point and victory of the season with a 2-0 win at Watford.
In an unfortunate sequence of events, Hornets defender Francisco Sierralta headed the ball into his own net in the 74th minute to give Wolves the lead, and manager Bruno Lage his maiden Premier League goal in charge of the club.
Substitute Hwang then bundled the ball over the line to double his side’s lead and score his first goal on his debut.
Watford had won their opening game against Aston Villa but have suffered back-to-back defeats since, and this was the first game of a new era after Troy Deeney was allowed to leave at the end of August to bring his 11-year chapter with the Hornets to a conclusion.
It was a quiet opening 15 minutes with neither side creating any clear-cut chances, despite the away team dominating the ball and Adama Traore looking dangerous on the right.
Wolves had to wait until after the half-hour mark for their first shot on target, but goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann was able to make a relatively easy save to prevent Francisco Trincao’s low drive from crossing the line.
Watford had a great opportunity just before half-time when Ismaila Sarr found himself with space in the box and was able to pass the ball across the face of goal to the arriving Josh King, but he was unable to get a decisive touch on the ball.
Wolves had another chance to break the deadlock just after the hour when Nelson Semedo was played in by a lovely flick-on from Raul Jimenez but the Portuguese player dragged the ball wide.
Yet another chance went begging for the visitors in the second half when Joao Moutinho’s free-kick from the right was headed wide by an unmarked Jimenez at the near post.
It took until the 74th minute for the first goal, with Sierralta making a costly error at the back from a Marcal corner to hand Wolves a much-needed breakthrough.
The Chile international had been a doubt for the game after he missed international duty over the past week, with his country asking for the defender to be banned.
Wolves sealed victory late on when Hwang did enough to squeeze the ball over the line and secure three points for Lage’s men.