Wolves 0 Sheffield Wednesday 0 – Report and pictures
Champions Wolves drew a blank against Sheffield Wednesday as their last home game of the season ended goalless.
Benik Afobe and Romain Saiss both went close in the first half, while Danny Batth nodded wide after the break and then returning substitute Bright Enobakhare fired off target late on.
Sheffield Wednesday created very little of note and the game petered out, before Wolves lifted the Championship trophy after full time.
Analysis
Well you can't win them all.
There was a party before and after this match as Wolves and their supporters celebrated a truly magnificent season, but the game itself was a bit of a damp squib, writes Tim Spiers at Molineux.
Not that anyone seemed to mind.
There was no lack of effort on Wolves' part and if they'd managed to break the deadlock they'd have been deserving winners having created a few notable chances.
But their usual vibrancy, class and pizazz just wasn't there.
Indeed it was left to the unlikely source of Romain Saiss to produce most of their creativity, with the Moroccan having a busy and productive game in midfield.
The best chances fell to Benik Afobe, Saiss and then substitute Bright Enobakhare but Wolves were either foiled by keeper Cameron Dawson or their finishing let them down, particularly the latter who skewed wide from a great position.
They still kept yet another clean sheet though – a 24th of the season – with John Ruddy untroubled again.
So in a stellar season Wolves couldn't quite produce the perfect Molineux finish. It means they can't break a club record points total – but they can still reach 100 with a point at Sunderland next weekend.
Match report
As expected Nuno named the same team that thrashed Bolton 4-0 last week.
Ryan Bennett, who was on the bench at the Macron owing to injury, wasn't in the squad but Bright Enobakhare returned after a few months out with a quad injury and was among the substitutes.
With Sheffield Wednesday having nothing to play for and Wolves having wrapped up the title already the game could have gone one of two ways – a flowing pressure-free classic or a drab encounter. Sadly the first half was the latter.
At a fairly quiet Molineux the hosts were the better team and created two good opportunities. Benik Afobe was a bright spark up front as he continued his quest to try and impress and earn a permanent move back to the club.
He almost made it 1-0 when latching onto a slack back-pass and rounding Cameron Dawson, but the keeper pushed Afobe wide in the process and he couldn't find the net from an impossibly tight angle, with the ball trickling across goal and just wide.
Romain Saiss had an excellent half both defensively and offensively, cutting out danger and frequently setting Wolves on the attack with some probing through balls.
He also went close to breaking the deadlock when getting his head on an inswinging Barry Douglas corner but keeper Dawson blocked at point blank range.
In contrast to Saiss, his midfield partner in crime Ruben Neves was unusually off colour, playing a few wayward passes, and this was indicative of a rather subdued Wolves performance. You certainly felt they had a few extra gears in them.
In fact the highlight by far was the pre-match scenes with Sheffield Wednesday granting Wolves a guard of honour and the supporters each waving their flags – and creating a mosaic in the Steve Bull upper – as the players received a rapturous ovation. A video message from Carl Ikeme also brought the house down.
As for the visitors, dangerman Fernando Forestieri caused a few problems but John Ruddy was kept pretty quiet.
The second half saw an instant improvement from Wolves who came out with renewed vigour.
Within two minutes Diogo Jota twice went close, firing at the keeper and then shooting wide, before Danny Batth jumped highest to nod a cross just past the post.
Nuno called for Leo Bonatini after 55 minutes with Afobe withdrawn.
However barring a couple of promising breaks involving Jota and Costa the game soon petered out again, with Wolves lacking their usual fluency.
Enobakhare came on for his first appearance since January, replacing Costa with 16 minutes to go, and the youngster who soon involved as helped start a decent move which ended with Saiss firing over the bar via a deflection.
And Enobakhare was then handed the chance of the match on a plate by Bonatini who played a great through ball, but he dragged his shot across goal and wide from 10 yards.
That was the last match action, with the referee calling time without adding any stoppage time.
Key moments
33 – Afobe latches onto a back pass and rounds the keeper before shooting across goal and wide from a tight angle.
42 – Good save from keeper Dawson to deny a Saiss header from Douglas' corner.
48 – After Jota goes close with a low shot Batth heads a cross just wide.
79 – Enobakhare drags wide from a great position after being played in by Bonatini.
Teams
Wolves (3-4-3): John Ruddy; Batth (c), Coady, Boly; Doherty, Saiss, Neves, Douglas; Costa (Enobakhare, 74), Afobe (Bonatini, 55), Jota (Gibbs-White, 87). Subs: Norris, Miranda, Hause, N'Diaye.
Sheffield Wednesday (5-2-3): Dawson; Reach, Lees (c), Venacncio, Pudill, Thorniley; Pelupessy, Bannan; Joao (Matias, 60), Nuhiu, Forestieri. Subs: Wildsmith, Jones, Rhodes, Boyd, Baker, Nielsen.
Attendance: 29,794
Referee: Simon Hooper
League position
1st (99 points from 45 matches)
