Wolves 1-0 Burnley: Clarets left to rue costly error as Vincent Kompany's men slip to narrow defeat

Vincent Kompany’s men were always in the game in this even encounter at Molineux, which was ultimately decided by Hwang’s first-half strike.

The Clarets had been the better side during the opening 45 minutes and should have taken the lead themselves when Jay Rodriguez was denied from eight yards out.

But the visitors shot themselves in the foot late in the half when Dara O’Shea put Sander Berge under pressure with a pass out from the back, while the midfielder’s heavy touch allowed Wolves to work the ball to Hwang, who did the rest.

While Burnley did rally late on, they offered little during the second-half and didn’t apply the necessary pressure to pick up what would have been a priceless point.

The result means the Clarets remain in the relegation zone, having now lost their last four away games on the spin.

Kompany was forced into making one change for tonight’s game, with Jordan Beyer missing out through suspension having picked up his fifth booking of the season during Saturday’s big win against Sheffield United.

Hjalmar Ekdal, who made his first league appearance of the season off the bench against the Blades, was the man to replace him at the heart of Burnley’s defence.

The Clarets were otherwise unchanged, with Kompany keeping faith with the team that won so convincingly at Turf Moor at the weekend.

Arijanet Muric returned from an infection to be named among the subs, but Jack Cork remains sidelined with a calf injury he picked up in training.

Lyle Foster, meanwhile, continues to take a break from football to receive specialist treatment for his mental health.

The likes of Connor Roberts, Han-Noah Massengo, Manuel Benson, Darko Churlinov and Michael Obafemi were not involved.

As for Wolves, they made four changes from their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal. Goalkeeper Jose Sa was one of those to drop out after picking up a knock at the Emirates.

There was to be no repeat of Saturday’s electric start, when the Clarets took just 15 seconds to open the scoring against Sheffield United courtesy of Jay Rodriguez.

The visitors did start well though, pressing high and looking to take the game to Wolves, rather than sitting back and soaking up the early pressure.

It was a fairly even start to proceedings, with Wolves enjoying the lion’s share of possession but Burnley showing good discipline to stay in their shape while looking for moments to pounce.

Pablo Sarabai almost got in behind for Wolves following a long ball over the top, but James Trafford showed good awareness and timed his run off his line just right to nip the ball ahead of him.

As for Burnley, they were able to create a couple of half chances inside the Wolves box through Brownhill and Luca Koleosho, but both came to nothing.

At the other end, Trafford was again called into action to deal with Sarabia’s deflected effort, which looked to be looping over him. But the keeper back pedalled well and retreated sharply to tip the effort over his bar.

Sarabia squandered another good chance, steering over after Charlie Taylor had been beaten for pace by Nelson Semedo.

Burnley looked to make the hosts pay for their misses when Zeki Amdouni saw a low drive well saved by Dan Bentley, after Hjalmar Ekdal had done well to bring the ball out from the back.

Kompany’s men were dealt a big blow 10 minutes before the interval when Koleosho was forced to come off with a knock. Johann Gudmundsson the man to replace him.

But they nearly put that disappointment behind them within an instant when they came close to opening the scoring with two big chances in quick succession. But Bentley thwarted the visitors with two big saves, first denying Jay Rodriguez before getting back up to tip Brownhill’s rebound wide of the post.

They were forced to regret those missed chances when, in the 43rd minute, they gifted Wolves the game’s opening goal.

It was reminiscent of earlier in the season, when they continued to shoot themselves in the foot with silly mistakes playing out from the back.

This time it was Dara O’Shea who put Sander Berge under pressure and the Norwegian’s heavy touch opened the door for the hosts, who took full advantage by working the ball to Hwang to slot home.

It was a hugely frustrating way to end what had been a strong half from the Clarets, but once again they shot themselves in the foot to give them a mountain to climb - something we thought Burnley had moved on from.

Not a great deal happened at either end of the pitch at the beginning of the second-half, apart from Bruun Larsen blazing a 25-yard free-kick into the terraces.

Just after the hour mark, Burnley were given a let off though when Craig Dawson side footed a deep cross back across the face of the six-yard box, but no Wolves teammate was there to bundle the ball home.

With 20 minutes left on the clock, Trafford was again called into action to push Sarabai’s free-kick behind for a corner.

Burnley had offered nothing in the second-half whatsoever, but towards the final 10 minutes they finally began to exert some pressure.

Vitinho came within a whisker of levelling matters when a cross was partially cleared to the right-back, who lashed a long-range effort just over the crossbar.

Bizarrely, only three minutes of stoppage time was added on but Burnley had already run out of steam by this point and were unable to force home a late equaliser.

TEAMS

Wolves: Bentley, Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Toti, Bueno (Doherty), Sarabia (Bellegarde), Lemina, Gomes, Hwang, Cunha (Traore)

Subs not used: King, Bueno, Kalajdzic, Doyle, Chirewa, Silva

Burnley: Trafford, Vitinho, Ekdal, O'Shea, Taylor, Brownhill, Berge, Bruun Larsen (Tresor), Koleosho (Gudmundsson), Amdouni, Rodriguez

Subs not used: Muric, Al-Dakhil, Delcroix, Ramsey, Redmond, Zaroury, Odobert

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Attendance: 30,439