Wolves 0-0 Fulham: Aleksandar Mitrovic misses late penalty after Jose Sa saves spot-kick in goalless draw at Molineux

Report and match highlights as Aleksandar Mitrovic misses a late penalty for Fulham at Wolves; Jose Sa saves striker's spot-kick to ensure goalless draw at Molineux; home side have just one shot on target after Hwang Hee-Chan's fourth-minute effort is saved by Fulham goalkeeper Marek Rodak

Declan Olley

@declanolley

Saturday 13 August 2022 19:11, UK

Aleksandar Mitrovic missed a late penalty for Fulham as Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa saved his spot-kick to ensure it finished goalless at Molineux.

The visitors were awarded an 80th-minute penalty after Rayan Ait-Nouri fouled Bobby De Cordova-Reid but Mitrovic, who scored twice against Liverpool last weekend, saw his penalty saved by Sa.

Mitrovic's frustration at his miss nearly boiled over as he scythed down Morgan Gibbs-White in stoppage-time and then went head-to-head with the Wolves forward. But the Serbia international only saw yellow, despite VAR having a look at the incident.

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Meanwhile, Wolves had just one shot on target with Hwang Hee-Chan's fourth-minute effort from a tight angle saved by Marek Rodak.

Bruno Lage's side, who were beaten at Leeds on the opening weekend, have not won in nine Premier League matches, while it is two draws in two matches on Fulham's return to the Premier League.

How neither side could break the deadlock at Molineux...

Wolves started brightly as Pedro Neto raced clear in the third minute but saw his shot saved, as he then put his headed rebound wide - although he was flagged for offside.

Just moments later, Hwang had a carbon-copy chance after being played through but Rodak stood firm with the South Korean forward onside.

Fulham's best chance of the first half saw De Cordova-Reid's goalbound header from Andreas Pereira's corner cleared by Wolves skipper Ruben Neves with Sa diving to save it.

Wolves went closest in the second half just eight minutes after the break as Gibbs-White skied Ait-Nouri's cross over with the goal gaping.

The Cottagers should have taken all three points when Mitrovic had the chance to score from the spot, but Sa dived to his right to stop the 27-year-old, who had scored a penalty past Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker last Saturday.

Man of the match: Jose Sa

In a match of little quality and few chances, Wolves goalkeeper Sa was the hero for the home side. Without his penalty save, Lage's side would have likely lost.

He also was brave in stopping a chance after the penalty as he dived to prevent De Cordova-Reid getting a headed shot from a corner.

Fantasy Premier League stats

Wolves 0-0 Fulham - FPL stats


Penalty misses	Mitrovic
Penalty saves	Sa
Bonus points	Collins (3pts), Sa (2pts), Ream (1pt)

Lage: We deserved to win

Wolves head coach: Bruno Lage:

"We deserved to win but this is football. I'm happy with the performance and we need to continue to work.

"We need to improve our emotional control. The last 10 to 15 minutes we are controlling the game but we cannot lose emotional control and we need to keep going with our plan to score goals."

Silva: I want more from us on the ball

Fulham head coach: Marco Silva:

"We had a big chance late in the match. The penalty was a very good opportunity for us to start leading the game.

"But it was a balanced match. I want more from us on the ball but we are working to get there."

Opta stats: Wolves' goal scoring troubles

Wolves have netted just two goals in total in their last four home Premier League games, drawing two and losing two; indeed they last endured a longer winless run on home soil in the top-flight via a run of 14 which straddled the 2011-12 and 2018-2019 seasons (D4 L10).
Wolves are now winless in their last 12 Premier League games in August (D7 L5), since a 2-0 home win against Fulham in 2011. Only in April (14 games between 2004 and 2012) have Wolves had a longer winless run in a specific month.
Fulham are now without a win in 12 Premier League games, the longest ongoing run of any side currently in the division (D4 L8) while it is also the Cottagers joint-longest winless run in the competition's history (also 12 games between December 2020-February 2021, and 12 between November 2007-January 2008).
This was the 15th different Premier League match taking place between two Portuguese managers (Wolves' Bruno Lage and Fulham's Marco Silva), however, while Silva has been involved in eight of the these, he has only enjoyed one win (W1 D3 L4).