Back in Europe in more than one sense, Wolves earned the predicted victory against Crusaders but still have a little bit of work to do in the second leg to make sure of progression.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side only returned from China on Sunday, having competed in the Premier League Asia Trophy, and perhaps jetlag could be attributed as the cause for a scoreline closer than expected. Indeed the winning margin would have been just one but a late error gifting them a second with the last kick of the game.
Wolves have waited nearly four decades to be back in continental competition though and they plan on staying for a good while longer yet.
They hope to navigate this and the next two rounds of Europa League qualifying to reach the group stage and make a real impression. The competition will inevitably get harder, even if Crusaders put up obdurate opposition. They ran and blocked heroically.
It was not until the 93rd minute that an error by goalkeeper Sean O’Neill allowed Ruben Vinagre to tap in and add to Diogo Jota’s first-half strike. Comparing the resources of these two clubs would be like setting an ant next to, well, a wolf. Crusaders are operating on a drastically different scale to Wolves and entered this match simply with the aim of keeping the score down.
The team from Belfast are still not full-time, with players working jobs in retail, banks, schools, and social services.
They had to book two days off to feature at Molineux and it is estimated one weeks’ wage for say, Joao Moutinho, would cover their budget for a year. On two previous occasions meeting an English team in Europe, Crusaders lost 7-0 on aggregate to Liverpool in 1976 and 7-1 to Fulham in 2011. So the capacity crowd packing the ground carried an understandable sense of expectancy.
Not since 1980 had Wolves been in Europe and the heat offered a warm welcome back. As anticipated Nuno’s side utterly dominated possession – 80 per cent to 20 per cent – as Crusaders laid six across the back trying to keep their clean sheet for as long as possible.
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