Wolverhampton Wanderers fought back to salvage a dramatic 2-2 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion last time out in Premier League action, with the Old Gold the happier of the two sides at the end of the barnstorming affair.
Gary O’Neil’s men were staring another defeat straight in the face before two late strikes secured a share of the spoils for the away team, courtesy of Rayan Aït-Nouri and Matheus Cunha coming up trumps.
That was Cunha’s fourth strike already this season in the top flight, as the Brazilian star continues to shine bright for his relegation-threatened outfit, despite any adversity facing them.
Cunha's form this season
His showing against the Seagulls was particularly impressive, with Cunha lively all match away from his last-gasp equaliser, accumulating four key passes as a creative spark for his lowly outfit.
The 25-year-old would also register five shots on goal away from his decisive strike, with the Brighton defenders having to stay on high alert all contest on the South Coast to ensure Cunha didn’t cause further havoc, managing to block three of his efforts on the day.
There was a slight slice of fortune in Cunha’s equaliser cannoning past Bart Verbruggen – owing to a deflection off a Seagulls man – but neither O’Neil nor their standout South American would care, as the former Atletico Madrid forward continues to excel for the West Midlands outfit to ultimately keep the ex-AFC Bournemouth manager in a job.
The Wolves number ten will just hope more goals come about soon, but wins manage to be notched up too, as the Old Gold remain without a victory near the foot of the Premier League after nine games.
Despite continuing to star for his side, Cunha isn’t on a mindblowing wage whatsoever, earning £60k-per-week for O’Neil’s men, according to reports.
Whereas, other strikers – who never possessed the midas touch in-front of goal like the 25-year-old – earned heftier pay packets by doing very little, with one attacker in particular sticking out as a costly mistake on Wolves’ end.
Patrick Cutrone's time at Wolves
The world must have been expected of Patrick Cutrone when he walked into the building at Molineux in 2019 on a bumper £23m deal, having impressed in Italy before making the bold switch over to Wolverhampton.
The Como-born forward would fire home a promising 27 strikes for AC Milan from 90 appearances, with Wolves – then under the care of Nuno Espirito Santo – hopeful that the Italian striker would settle in swimmingly to his new environment in England.
Season
Games played
Goals scored
Assists
20/21
16
2
0
19/20
12
1
4
Sourced by Transfermarkt
Cutrone would only last 28 games at Molineux before being moved on to his hometown club of Como in 2022, having also been loaned out three times away from Wolves around that time in a bid to get him off their books for good.
In total, when weighing up his excessive £23m fee and his wage costs over the only full season he was situated at Wolves before a whole host of temporary loan moves away, Cutrone would cost the Old Gold a damaging £26m in total.
Annoyingly, although the 6 foot attacker would never quite fully explode into life for Wolves, he would turn into a goal machine playing for Como, with an impressive return of five strikes this season from ten overall contests.
Amazingly, that beats Cunha’s goal total by one playing back in England, but that doesn’t soften the damage whatsoever of Cutrone’s goal-shy spell or do much to correct the move denting the Wolves bank account.
It’s clear now that the Nuno signing just wasn’t a great fit at Wolves, whilst Cunha and O’Neil’s men as a combination continue to feel like a match that was meant to be.
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