Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Burnley - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - December 5, 2023 Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hwang Hee-chan in action with Burnley's Jay Rodriguez REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
WOLVERHAMPTON, England (Reuters) -Hwang Hee-chan took advantage of a defensive blunder to earn Wolverhampton Wanderers a 1-0 victory over struggling Burnley in their Premier League clash at Molineux on Tuesday that left the visitors rooted in the relegation zone.
Wolves were gifted the winner three minutes before halftime as Burnley tried to play out from the back. When Sander Berge lost possession, Matheus Cunha fed the ball to Hwang and he scored his eighth league goal of the campaign with a simple finish.
It was a game of few clear-cut chances, and while the best fell to the home side, Wolves goalkeeper Daniel Bentley made a brilliant double-save to deny Jay Rodriguez and Josh Brownhill in quick succession in the first half.
Wolves move up to 12th in the table with 18 points from 15 games, while Burnley, who were coming off their biggest Premier League era win in a 5-0 success against bottom side Sheffield United at the weekend, stay in 19th place with seven points from their 15 matches.
Burnley have not earned a point when they have conceded first this season, the only Premier League team yet to do so, and in truth they did not create enough to deserve one after falling behind.
It was a workmanlike performance from the home side, who failed to dazzle themselves, but for the most part looked in control of the game and always the likely winners.
It was also a first clean sheet in 12 games dating back to late August for Gary O’Neil’s team, which will be a hugely pleasing aspect of the win for the manager.
Pablo Sarabia had the first real opening just before the half-hour mark when he turned Nelson Semedo's cross over the bar having met it on the half-volley from 15 yards.
After Bentley’s excellent double-save, Wolves took the lead minutes later with a goal that will leave Burnley manager Vincent Kompany fuming at his team's naivety.
In the second half, Craig Dawson played a superb ball across the visitors' six-yard box but none of his team mates reacted quickly enough for what would have been an easy tap-in.
Sarabia’s excellent free kick was well saved by Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford as Wolves comfortably saw out the remainder of the game.
(Reporting by Nick SaidEditing by Toby Davis)
