Wolves 0 Nottingham Forest 3 - Report
Vitor Pereira suffered his first defeat as Wolves head coach as they opened 2025 with a 3-0 home defeat to high-flying Nottingham Forest.
Former Wolves attacker Morgan Gibbs-White opened the scoring at Molineux, before the hosts squandered several chances to bite back.
Chris Wood added a second late in the first half, to give Wolves a big task in the second.
But they failed to live up to it after the restart, as a lacklustre second 45 saw them fall to defeat following a late third from Taiwo Awoniyi.
Analysis
Pereira made five changes to the Wolves side that drew with Spurs last time out.
Summer signing Pedro Lima made his Premier League debut as Wolves, already hit with Matheus Cunha’s ban, lost experienced players Andre, Nelson Semedo and Craig Dawson.
Andre was unavailable for family reasons following the birth of his son, while Semedo picked up a hamstring injury and Dawson had a calf knock.
It meant Wolves named a youthful bench that included 16-year-old defender Wes Okoduwa, and also meant wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri was forced to play as a centre-back in a 5-2-3.
Former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo named a strong Forest side that included former Wolves academy graduate Gibbs-White.
As the game got under way, a fixture that has had some feisty encounters in recent years saw the home supporters immediately target Gibbs-White with a number of chants, as they booed every time he touched the ball.
But the former midfielder quickly responded as he handed Forest the lead after seven minutes. He started the counter-attack by finding Anthony Elanga, before receiving the reverse pass and finding the bottom corner as he celebrated in front of the home fans.
Wolves reacted well to going behind, however, and came close to scoring on a number of occasions.
It started when Hwang Hee-chan pounced on a loose ball and crossed for Jorgen Strand Larsen, who had a shot from close range blocked on the line, before Rodrigo Gomes had a fierce volley saved by goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Lima then put in a brilliant cross but Larsen made a mess of his shot on the volley.
Murillo then handed the ball to Larsen, who released Hwang, but his shot was well wide.
The most clear chance of them all then came when R.Gomes’ fantastic cross found Larsen with a free header from close range, but he directed it straight at Sels.
At the other end there was a VAR check for a possible Forest penalty when Ola Aina’s cross hit Ait-Nouri on the arm, but the on-field decision was not overturned.
Just before half-time, Forest took a 2-0 lead from another poor Wolves defensive showing. Matt Doherty let the ball run from a long ball and Callum Hudson-Odoi raced beyond him, before crossing low for Wood to finish, taking Wolves into the break trailing.
As the second half got under way, the visitors had the better of the early chances before Wolves settled and began to play.
But they were frustrating the home fans as they struggled to create anything meaningful by the hour mark.
Ait-Nouri saw a cross flash across goal without the necessary touch to find the back of the net, before Larsen had a shot saved following a swift counter-attack.
Forest almost added another when Hudson-Odoi headed over from close range.
A mix-up in defence, as Doherty made a mistake with a header back to Jose Sa, saw Awoniyi almost score.
Then, in the final seconds of the game, Awoniyi tapped in from a counter-attack to make it 3-0 as Wolves fell to defeat.
Key Moments
GOAL 7 Morgan Gibbs-White gives Forest an early lead following a counter-attack
GOAL 44 Wood doubles Forest’s lead
GOAL 94 Awoniyi adds a late third
Teams
Wolves: Sa, Lima (Bellegarde, 59), Doherty, Bueno, Ait-Nouri, R.Gomes, Doyle (Lemina, 59), J.Gomes, Guedes (Sarabia, 75), Hwang (Forbs, 75), Larsen.
Subs not used: Johnstone, Meupiyou, Pond, Okoduwa, Cundle.
Forest: Sels, Aina, Murillo, Milenkovic, Williams, Anderson (Yates, 69), Dominguez (Morato, 60), Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White (Ward-Prowse, 88), Elanga (Jota, 69), Wood (Awoniyi, 88).
Subs not used: Miguel, Moreno, Sosa, Boly.
