With a thrilling 3-0 victory over Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday, Wolverhampton Wanderers began the Vitor Pereira era, ending a four-game losing streak and advancing one game closer to safety.
Pereira, who was appointed Wolves’ new manager on Thursday, made many changes to the starting lineup from Gary O’Neil’s final game in charge and the visitors played with daring and desire to score all three goals in the first half.
The win gave Wolves supporters some Christmas cheer as they moved up to 18th place, two points behind 17th-place Leicester, thanks to goals from Goncalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes, and Matheus Cunha.
Wolves took the lead in the 19th minute when Guedes let a long ball from Nelson Semedo bounce and the Portuguese forward took a shot from a tight angle without looking up to beat Danny Ward in Leicester’s goal.
Then, without realising that Gomes was sneaking in behind him, Leicester right back James Justin allowed Matt Doherty’s long diagonal ball to go through, and the winger controlled the ball before poking it past Ward to make it 2-0.
After the final whistle, the travelling fans sang Pereira’s name, and the 56-year-old Portuguese walked over to the away end to thank them.
Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy watched incredulously from the touchline as Gomes, unable to believe his luck, celebrated with his teammates, causing boos to resound throughout the King Power Stadium.
Before halftime, Vardy almost cut the deficit in half, but Toti Gomes cleared the ball off the line, and Wolves made it 3-0 seconds later, only to make the jeers grow louder.
A Wolves counter-attack saw Guedes find Cunha making a move into the area and the Brazilian deftly controlled the pass to evade his opponent before sending a shot across Ward as the ball went in off the far post.
Leicester had more of the ball in the second half after a furious Nistelrooy made changes at halftime, but Pereira’s Wolves were content to sit back with a three-goal lead.
As the clock ran out, a large number of Leicester supporters left the stadium, and the Wolves supporters’ cries were heard throughout the deserted arena.
Pereira got off to the ideal start as Wolves recorded their first clean sheet in 17 league away games, their last being in January against Brighton.
