Express & Star

Wolves blog: Molineux men in good Kompany

Vincent Kompany’s right boot sent Wolves into seventh heaven on Monday night.

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Kompany joins Brentford’s Neal Maupay, whose goal against Fulham last season secured Wolves’ promotion, in some sort of non-Wolves-players-who-helped-Wolves Hall of Fame.

Of course, in reality it’s Wolves’ own efforts which secured last season’s title and this season’s seventh-place finish.

Two years ago, Laurie Dalrymple ditched the rollercoaster analogy for the club – you can’t fault him, it’s been a constant upward trajectory.

To have secured seventh spot with a game to spare is unbelievable, the magnitude of which probably hasn’t sunk in for many. We have finished higher than established teams like Everton, Leicester, West Ham – and can now go to Anfield and play with total freedom, having completely done our job.

At worst, we will have the same amount of losses this season as Spurs, and we currently have the joint-best defensive record outside the top four, conceding just 44 goals.

Only Man City’s 3-0 win over Wolves has been close to a hiding – admittedly we’ve had a few poor performances (Huddersfield x2, Watford at Molineux etc) but we have nothing to fear from this league.

After Wolves’ FA Cup capitulation, you wouldn’t have backed us to finish as the best of the rest – especially as we followed it with a loss to Southampton and a draw to Brighton.

But three straight wins has given us the best possible platform to head into next season.

Wolves’ European adventure is now in the hands of Man City in the FA Cup, but even if the unlikely happens and Watford lift the trophy, this season has still been beyond most’s wildest dreams.

It’s just over six years that we were relegated to League One. Could you have imagined, that day, that Wolves would have a doctor in charge of the club and have a WWE wrestler giving a speech on the pitch, six years later?

You can’t put into words what Nuno has done for the club –- everything he says and does turns to gold.

Even getting a nomination for Manager of the Season is superb and utterly deserved.

The game against Fulham was a tough slog, and it looked like it was heading, as these games for Wolves tend to do, towards a disappointing end.

Step up Leander Dendoncker, who took his volley superbly and made sure that Wolves ended at Molineux with ten league wins and a lengthy unbeaten run.

The atmosphere was poor compared to most games, which was partly hindered both by the location of the Fulham fans in the quadrant, and the general lack of them altogether. They must have one of the worst away supports in the English leagues.

Joao Moutinho and Diogo Jota were the stars for Wolves, but Matt Doherty had his 16th (!) goal involvement of the season and Dendoncker showed us why he will be a vital player next season.

Credit must also go to Rui Patricio, who made a world class save from a Ryan Babel shot, although the whistle had already gone.

Will Norris, Max Kilman and Ruben Vinagre picked up their easiest appearance bonuses of the season - but the fact that Ivan Cavaleiro, Helder Costa and Adama Traore puts a cloud over their futures.

Wolves fans will go to Anfield this weekend in a carnival mood. How often do you get two seasons like this in a row? The way Wolves are going, this could just be the beginning.