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Leeds 2-0 Wolves – Full Report
By JOEL REED
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ record unbeaten run of 21 league matches was today ended in spectacular style as goals from Eddie Lewis and Rob Hulse sealed all three points for Leeds United in a dogged encounter at Elland Road.
You have to roll the clock back to January 4 2005, several long months ago, to uncover the last time Wolves were beaten in the Coca-Cola Championship league.
Nathan Ellington, who last week made a £3M move to West Bromwich Albion, struck two quick fire goals for Wigan Athletic during a twilight encounter with Wolves boss Glenn Hoddle’s side at The JJB Stadium to brush aside the Molineux men.
But 228 days and almost 2000 minutes of football since that woeful display against the Lactics, who secured Premiership promotion last May after finishing Championship runners-up, Wolves’ bubble today finally burst, as they once again failed to capitalise on the numerous chances they manufactured and this time they paid the ultimate penalty.
United States of America international midfielder Eddie Lewis, who made a multi-million pound move to Leeds from Championship rivals Preston this summer, struck his first ever goal for his new club after 8 minutes when he hit a 10-yard shot past Wolves keeper Michael Oakes after latching on to a Frazer Richardson cross.
And former West Bromwich Albion striker Rob Hulse, who landed a £1.1M move away from The Hawthorns this summer, put the game beyond Wolves when he superbly managed to control Gary Kelly’s free-kick cross with his chest before bringing the ball down and sliding a neat volley under Oakes with 30 minutes to go.
Former England coach Hoddle was feeling the strain prior to kick-off as he was forced to draft in Nigerian international Seyi Olofinjana and Colin Cameron in to the Wolves midfield after Mark Kennedy and skipper Paul Ince both picked up thigh injuries in training.
The opening few minutes of the encounter saw Wolves dominate possession but against the run of play it was the home side who took the lead with a mere 8 minutes played.
Wolves left-back Lee Naylor made his first error of the entire season, when he failed to control a loose ball on the edge of his own penalty-area, but Leeds defender Frazer Richardson reacted to his opponent’s mistake and charged in to the box, where after he was pushed out wide he managed to unleash a low hard drive across the box.
Lewis just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and he watched Richardson’s cross before he pulled the trigger and hit a shot first-time from just over 10 yards out, which flew past Oakes, who had no chance, to open his account with United.
Leeds United manager Kevin Blackwell had encountered a goalkeeper selection headache leading in to this match and he was forced to choose whether to keep Ian Bennett or recall Neil Sullivan – in the end he chose Bennett – and the decision proved vital as the former Birmingham City stopper made several vital saves to deny Wolves, who launched a frenzied attack which lasted for the best part of half-an-hour, following Lewis’ shock goal.
Wolves strikers Carl Cort and Kenny Miller both had ample opportunities to provide an equaliser. Cort managed to latch on to right-back Jackie McNamara’s well-timed cross, but his header went well wide and Miller struck a powerful volley against the bar, which flew over for a goal-kick.
Scottish international Miller, who scored for his country in a friendly against Austria in Graz on Wednesday night, came tantalisingly close minutes later when he played a lovely one-two with South Korean forward Seol, but before Miller could get a shot in on goal, defender Dan Harding flew in with a last-ditch slide-tackle, which ensured his side went in to the dressing room at half-time on top.
Cort could have scored his second goal of the season after 55 minutes, when he controlled a Colin Cameron free-kick in the Leeds penalty-area, but the former Newcastle United hit-man drew his weak shot wide of the target.
Five minutes later Rob Hulse showed Cort how it was done when he scored a wonderful goal to kill off the fading opposition.
Defender Gary Kelly took his free-kick from the left-hand-side and his cross found Einarsson on the edge of the Wolves penalty-area, who flicked the ball on, and Hulse did extremely well to evade his marker Joleon Lescott, to take the loose ball on his chest and turn 360 degrees before smashing a well aimed volley under Oakes to seal the game.
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