Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Bristol City in the third round of the FA Cup, in order to progress through to the next stage. Goals from Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rodrigo Gomes put Wolves 2-0 up, before Bristol City’s Scott Twine made it 2-1 heading into half-time.
Vitor Pereira’s side held less possession (49%) than Bristol, who had 51% possession, but Wolves did manage to create five ‘big chances’ whilst the Robins didn’t manage any from their six shots in the match.
Alongside the goalscorers, a debut performance from central defender Emmanuel Agbadou caught the eye, after joining the club from Reims for around £16.6m this week.
Agbadou's debut performance
The 27-year-old made his debut for Wolves against Bristol, having played 15 games already this season in France, contributing to three clean sheets in 1,343 minutes played.
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The central defender brings leadership along with his duel-winning qualities, both on the ground and in the air.
In Wolves’ 2-1 victory at Ashton Gate, Agbadou played the entirety of the game, winning four of his five ground duels, one of his three aerial duels, making two interceptions, one tackle and four clearances in the match.
But alongside the good performances, there was one Wolves man in particular who has been under scrutiny in recent weeks, and could find himself on his way out, after another poor performance, being hooked after 75 minutes.
The Wolves star whose time is up
Hwang Hee-chan has been through his ups and downs at Wolves, making 111 appearances for the club, scoring 24 goals, providing seven assists and totalling 6,248 minutes played.
The 28-year-old has had some hot goal-scoring streaks in Wolves colours, but has only managed two goals in 672 minutes so far this campaign.
And his performance against Bristol didn’t help his case, only managing 32 touches – which was even fewer than goalkeeper Sam Johnstone (50) in the sticks – while making 75% of his passes accurately and losing possession seven times.
Stat
Record
Minutes
75
Shots
2
Big Chances Missed
1
Touches
32
Accurate Passes
18/24
Ground Duels Won
3/5
Possession Lost
7
Tackles Made
1
The 28-year-old has been linked with a move away in the January transfer window – amid interest from West Ham United – and this performance won’t have fans begging him to stay. Hwang didn’t make a single key pass in the game, both of his shots were off target and his only ‘big chance’ of the match was missed.
The forward clearly didn’t give up, still winning three of his five ground duels and making a tackle in the game, but the output and creativity weren’t of the standard needed, especially to earn himself more consistent minutes in the Premier League going forwards.
When considering the form of other attacking players at Wolves currently, such as Matheus Cunha and Jorgen Strand Larsen, you can definitely see why Hwang is now seen as expendable, and a sale could allow Pereira to make moves of his own in the window.
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