Wood treble sees Burnley thrash Wolves to ease relegation worries

Chris.wood_.2021.TEAMtalk11

A superb first-half hat-trick by striker Chris Wood was enough to give Burnley a 4-0 victory over Wolves at Molineux and ease any relegation fears.

The opening 45 minutes made it clear which team was driven by the hunger and desire of something to play for. Wolves, who have known for some time that they would probably finish in mid-table obscurity, improved marginally in the second half.

They only conceded one more goal when Ashley Westwood struck five minutes from time.

Sean Dyche’s team headed to the West Midlands in no immediate threat of relegation, despite three successive defeats. That was mostly due to Fulham’s inability to put any pressure on the teams above them.

They left with a nine-point cushion between themselves and the bottom three which should ensure another season of Premier League football.

Conor Coady could be heard bellowing out instructions as the match started, demanding a fast start from his team. Initially it appeared to have worked, but ultimately it fell on deaf ears.

Daniel Podence provided some easy work for the returning Nick Pope, back after missing two games with a shoulder injury. He shot into the goalkeeper’s midriff, before curling a shot beyond the England international which skimmed the outside of a post.

A mistake by Wily Boly allowed Burnley to take the lead after 15 minutes. Wood latched on to a pass that Boly failed to clear and turned Coady one way then the other.

His powerful shot found the far corner of the net from an acute angle. The New Zealander quickly doubled the lead six minutes later.

Sloppy play by Adama Traore this time saw him give the ball away on the edge of his own penalty area. Dwight McNeil intercepted his pass to Nelson Semedo.

McNeil rolled the ball across the face of goal where Wood was on hand to tap it home from close range.

Dyche had his team playing aggressive, front-foot football and Wolves were unable to cope. Burnley won yet another second ball and Charlie Taylor’s cross should have been put away by Matej Vydra.

But he spooned his shot over the crossbar from eight yards out to let the hosts off the hook.

Wolves were as sloppy and sluggish as Burnley were impressive and the hosts’ frustration boiled over seven minutes before half time. Podence stayed down inside the penalty area after a slight push by Josh Brownhill.

James Tarkowski tried to drag the striker up by his arm, sparking a melee involving both sets of players.

Traore pushed Jack Cork in the face. VAR took a look at the incident but only deemed Traore’s actions worthy of a yellow card.

In the current climate, the Wolves winger could have had few complaints if the colour was red.

Wood headed Burnley’s third goal and completed his hat-trick a minute before half time. He nodded home unmarked from four yards out following some more terrible defending from a McNeil corner.

Wood treble gives Clarets control

Vydra rounded Rui Patricio to score what looked like a fourth goal right at the start of the second half. But VAR intervened and saved Wolves with a correct offside decision.

Ashley.Westwood.2021.TEAMtalk1

Burnley were not resting on their laurels and still looked a danger going forward. Matt Lowton made Patricio make a fine save at his near post after an hour.

As good as the Clarets were going forward, defensively also they were outstanding and kept their opponents at arm’s length throughout.

Westwood completed the rout with five minutes remaining as Wood turned provider for his fierce shot from the edge of the box.