Goncalo Guedes scores twice as Wolves ease past Burnley

Posted Thursday, August 29, 2024 by PA

Goncalo Guedes struck twice to seal Wolves’ spot in the third round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 win over Burnley at Molineux.

Gary O’Neil was looking for a response from their 6-2 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday and got just that after he made 10 changes to the side.

The hosts were dominant from start to finish and Burnley had keeper Vaclav Hladky to thank for not going a goal down early on before Guedes nudged them in front before the break.

Guedes grabbed his second of the match after 54 minutes to earn Wolves their first competitive win of the season.

Following a quiet opening 10 minutes, the hosts started to get into their groove and would have taken the lead but for a superb Hladky double save.

Daniel Podence’s initial curling effort was palmed by Hladky into the path of Pedro Lima from six yards but the Czech stopper was on hand to tip onto the post.

Rayan Ait-Nouri – the only survivor from Sunday’s thrashing by Chelsea – almost opened the scoring as he left Burnley defenders in his wake to go one-one-one with Hladky but the keeper was there to thwart Wolves for a third time.

Wolves’ performance was finally rewarded in the 38th minute. Lima was the creator, springing down the right and delivering a ball past the onrushing Hladky for Guedes to tap into an empty net.

Boubacar Traore had only just come back into the side following injury but there was more misfortune for the midfielder, who limped off the field before half-time.

Wolves doubled their advantage nine minutes into the second period. Podence spotted the run of Guedes in behind Burnley’s high line and the Portuguese striker raced through on goal and cleverly dinked it over Hladky.

Wolves were hungry for more. Tommy Doyle’s out-swinging delivery found the leaping Toti but he was unable to guide his header under the crossbar.

Burnley failed to muster a shot on target – Connor Roberts came closest when he tried his luck with a shot from outside the box which whistled just wide of Dan Bentley’s far post.

Wolves desperately wanted a third but were forced to settle for two after Podence’s chip was kept out by Hladky as the hosts eased into round three.